1 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


OLD   COLONY   DAYS 


jz 


OLV  COLONY  DAYS 


BY 

MAY  ALDEN  WARD 

3uti)or  at 
"  LIFE   OF  DANTE,"   "  LIFE  OF   PETRARCH,"   ETC. 


BOSTON 

ROBERTS     BROTHERS 
1896 


Copyright,  1896, 
BY  ROBERTS  BROTHERS. 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S.A. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY    ...  9 

THE  EARLY  AUTOCRAT  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  .  89 

AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE 129 

SOME  DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS  .    .  187 

A  GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS 235 

INDEX 277 


631963 


THE 

FATHER  OF  AMERICAN   HISTORY. 


OLD   COLONY   DAYS. 


THE    FATHER    OF    AMERICAN 
HISTORY. 

"DROWNING  has  tried  to  show  us  that  it 
is  better  to  live  poetry  than  to  write 
it,  although  he  could  do  both.  For  different 
reasons  it  is  a  grander  thing  to  make  history 
than  to  be  merely  the  recorders  of  it.  But 
when  the  makers  of  noble  history  are  also  its 
writers,  then  is  the  world  fortunate. 

As  Americans  we  can  never  be  grateful 
enough  that  in  the  little  band  of  men  who 
first  set  foot  on  Plymouth  Rock  was  one 
who  realized  that  they  were  making  history, 
one  who  felt  that  that  rock  was  to  become 
the  corner-stone  of  a  nation.  He  saw  that 
9 


10  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

from  the  moment  when  they  first  resolved 
for  freedom's  sake  "  to  tempt  the  dangers  of 
an  unknown  sea,  to  plant  a  home  in  an  un- 
known wilderness,"  their  lightest  acts  became 
important  and  worthy  of  recording.  To  him 
we  owe  the  chart  by  which  we  follow  this 
heroic  band  step  by  step,  day  after  day, 
through  the  long  privations,  the  terrible 
sufferings,  and  the  crushing  sorrows  which 
attended  the  birth  of  New  England. 

Now  that  Forefathers'  Day  is  celebrated 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  a  splen- 
did monument  marks  the  scene  of  their  mar- 
tyrdom; now  that  great  paintings  of  the 
embarkation  and  of  the  landing  adorn  not 
only  the  walls  of  Pilgrim  Hall  at  Plymouth, 
but  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol  at  Washing- 
ton, and  the  Peers'  Corridor  of  the  House  of 
Parliament,  —  we  are  apt  to  forget  what  very 
unimportant  events  these  were  at  the  time 
of  their  occurrence.  We  cannot  realize  how 
little  noise  they  made  in  the  world,  and  how 


THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     II 

easily  all  record  of  them  might  have  been 
lost.  England  took  no  note  either  of  the 
embarkation  or  of  the  landing;  and  the  Peers 
would  have  been  mightily  amused  had  it 
been  suggested  to  them  that  the  departure  of 
that  little  band  of  stubborn  "  Separatists " 
was  an  event  of  historical  importance,  worthy 
to  be  perpetuated  on  the  walls  of  the  House 
of  Parliament.  Painters,  poets,  and  historians 
would  have  been  dependent  on  imagination 
and  tradition  in  portraying  these  scenes  were 
it  not  for  the  pen  of  William  Bradford,  to 
whom  belongs,  unquestionably,  the  title  of 
"The  Father  of  American  History." 

By  this  opinion  no  slight  is  intended  to  his 
famous  contemporaries.  Their  greatness  lay 
chiefly  in  other  directions.  Some  touches,  it 
is  true,  were  added  to  the  history  by  Edward 
Winslow;  but  his  sketches,  rare  treasures  as 
they  are,  narrate  only  detached  incidents. 
To  Bradford  alone  belongs  the  credit  of  hav- 
ing written  a  connected  history  of  the  "  Old 


12  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Colony"  during  the  first  quarter  century  of 
its  existence,  while  it  was  still  doubtful 
whether  it  was  to  exist  at  all.  He  must  be 
placed  first  in  that  great  triumvirate  of  Plym- 
outh men  of  whom  it  has  been  said  that 
Standish  was  the  hand,  Winslow  the  tongue, 
and  Bradford  the  guiding  brain. 

Volumes  upon  volumes  have  been  written 
since;  but  whoever  would  live  again  the  life 
of  the  Pilgrims  and  feel  their  very  presence, 
must  go  back  to  three  old  books,  "  Mourt's 
Relation,"  "Bradford's  Letter  Book,"  and 
"  Bradford's  History,"  written  more  than  two 
centuries  and  a  half  ago.  Each  of  these 
works  had  curious  adventures  of  its  own 
before  it  reached  us  in  its  present  permanent 
form.  The  quaint  little  book  called  "Mourt's 
Relation  "  contains  Bradford's  journal  during 
that  first  eventful  winter  on  the  bleak  New 
England  shore.  It  contains  also  Winslow's 
account  of  four  expeditions  to  the  Indian 
tribes  about  them,  and  a  sermon  preached  to 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     13 

the  Pilgrims  by  Robert  Cushman  during  his 
first  visit  to  the  colony.  For  the  satisfaction 
of  those  Englishmen  who  had  risked  their 
money  in  the  venture,  these  papers  were  sent 
back  to  England  in  the  second  ship  that 
came  over.  In  1622  they  were  published 
anonymously,  without  the  knowledge  of  the 
writers,  in  a  small  volume  called  "  Mourt's 
Relation."  There  was  little  interest  in  the 
subject,  and  the  book  soon  fell  into  oblivion, 
from  which  it  was  rescued  only  during  the 
present  century.  Thanks  to  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society,  we  have  now  a 
second  edition,  which  in  type,  spelling,  and 
punctuation  is  an  exact  reproduction  of  the 
first. 

"  Bradford's  Letter  Book  "  contained  an 
invaluable  collection  of  letters  to  different 
members  of  the  colony  from  friends  in  Eng- 
land and  from  those  left  behind  in  Leyden, 
together  with  the  replies  of  the  colonists  and 
copies  of  important  documents.  The  Brad- 


14  OLD    COLONY  DAYS. 

ford  family  allowed  it  to  be  placed  for  safe 
keeping  in  the  tower  of  the  Old  South 
Church  in  Boston,  where  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Prince  had  collected  a  valuable  library  on 
New  England  history.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  Revolution,  when  the  British  soldiers  took 
possession  of  the  Old  South  Church,  and 
turned  it  into  a  riding  school,  many  valuable 
manuscripts  were  purloined  from  the  library, 
among  them  being  the  Letter  Book.  Twenty 
years  later  Mr.  James  Clark,  of  Boston,  dis- 
covered a  remnant  of  it  in  a  grocer's  shop  in 
Nova  Scotia.  Three  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
pages  had  already  been  used  for  wrapping- 
paper.  Mr.  Clark  rescued  the  remainder, 
and  it  was  printed  in  the  Collections  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 

Bradford's  manuscript  history  was  also 
deposited  in  the  library  of  the  Old  South, 
and  disappeared  with  the  letters.  It  had 
been  cited  and  quoted  by  Morton,  Prince, 
Mather,  and  others ;  but  the  work  itself  had 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     15 

never  been  printed.  From  these  extracts 
historians  realized  the  value  of  what  they 
had  lost;  but  for  more  than  seventy  years 
no  trace  of  it  could  be  found.  In  1855  Mr. 
Barry  found  in  an  English  book  a  passage 
which  was  ascribed  to  a  manuscript  history 
of  Plymouth,  in  the  library  of  the  Bishop  of 
London.  He  recognized  the  passage  as  one 
of  those  extracts  from  Bradford,  and  began 
to  hope  that  this  manuscript  was  the  long-lost 
history.  Careful  examination  proved  beyond 
a  doubt  that  the  manuscript  was  Bradford's 
history,  written  with  his  own  hand.  On  one 
of  the  blank  leaves  was  this  memorandum: — 
"  This  book  was  rit  by  goefner  William 
Bradford,  and  gifen  to  his  son,  mager 
William  Bradford,  and  by  him  to  his  son 
mager  John  Bradford,  rit  by  me  Samuel 
Bradford,  March  20,  1705."  Another  page 
contained  a  note  by  Rev.  Mr.  Prince,  ex- 
plaining how  the  book  came  into  the  Old 
South  library. 


1 6  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

The  Bishop  of  London  allowed  a  copy  to 
be  made  for  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society;  and  this,  too,  has  been  printed  in 
their  Collections.  The  original  manuscript, 
however,  still  remains  in  the  library  of  the 
Bishop  of  London.  It  is  an  example  of  the 
irony  of  fate  that  the  palace  once  occupied 
by  Bancroft,  whose  cruelty  drove  the  Pil- 
grims out  of  England,  and  later  by  Laud, 
whose  tyranny  caused  the  settlement  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  should  become  the  re- 
pository of  the  only  record  of  the  persecu- 
tions, sufferings,  and  achievements  of  the 
exiles.  It  has  been  suggested  by  a  promi- 
nent Englishman  that  it  would  be  a  graceful 
act  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  restore  to 
the  United  States  this  precious  manuscript, 
—  the  very  book  of  Genesis  of  the  nation. 

It  is  easy  to  see  from  the  dates  given  above 
that  only  the  present  generation  has  had  the 
privilege  of  hearing  the  story  of  the  Pilgrims 
from  their  own  lips.  Indeed,  before  the  dis- 


THE  FA  THER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTOR  Y.     1 7 

covery  of  "  Bradford's  History,"  we  had  not 
even  a  complete  list  of  the  passengers  of 
the  "  Mayflower."  Prince  had  copied  from 
Bradford  the  names  of  the  men  who  signed 
the  compact,  and  had  indicated  by  a  figure 
after  each  name  the  size  of  the  man's  family ; 
but  the  names  of  the  women  and  children, 
whose  heroism  was  equal  to  if  not  greater 
than  that  of  the  men,  he  had  not  thought  it 
worth  while  to  preserve. 

Although  the  character  of  Bradford  is  re- 
vealed in  every  page  of  his  writings,  he 
modestly  keeps  his  personality  in  the  back- 
ground, speaking  of  himself  only  when  neces- 
sary, and  then  in  an  impersonal  way.  And 
yet  the  history  of  Plymouth  contains  the 
entire  story  of  his  life.  While  still  a  child,  he 
came  under  the  influence  of  those  who  were 
endeavoring  to  escape  from  the  forms  and 
requirements  of  the  English  Church  as  it 
was  in  that  day,  —  the  M  bare  and  beggarly 
ceremonies,"  as  he  calls  them.  His  only 


1 8  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

relatives  or  guardians  were  two  old  uncles, 
who  laughed  at  his  piety  and  scorned  his 
associates. 

The  lad's  chosen  friend  and  companion 
was  William  Brewster,  a  man  thirty  years 
his  senior.  His  influence  on  Bradford  was 
of  the  utmost  importance,  not  only  on  ac- 
count of  his  piety,  but  because  of  his  great 
stores  of  wisdom  and  experience.  Brewster 
was  a  scholar;  but  he  had  seen  much  of 
cqurts  and  cities,  and  had  studied  the  world 
as  well  as  books,  before  he  settled  down 
at  Scrooby.  In  his  earlier  life  he  had  been 
for  years  the  trusted  secretary  and  friend  of 
Davison,  the  Secretary  of  State  to  Queen 
Elizabeth.  Davison  treated  him  "  rather  as 
a  son  than  a  servant."  Brewster  had  been 
with  him  at  Court  and  in  foreign  lands,  had 
been  entrusted  with  important  commissions, 
and  had  come  into  very  close  touch  with 
the  mysteries  of  royalty;  for  it  was  Davi- 
son, his  employer,  who  signed  the  death 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     19 

warrant  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and 
lost  his  office  thereby,  through  Elizabeth's 
treachery. 

Later  Brewster  received  the  government 
post  which  his  father  had  held,  and  came 
to  live  in  the  old  manor  house  at  Scrooby, 
under  the  roof  which  had  sheltered  Cardinal 
Wolsey  in  his  last  days.  Here  he  became 
the  "  special  stay  and  help  "  of  the  little  flock 
of  Separatists  who  were  under  the  ministry 
of  Pastor  Clifton  and  the  Rev.  John  Robin- 
son. When  persecution  obliged  them  to 
give  up  their  place  of  worship,  the  congre- 
gation assembled  regularly  at  the  old  manor 
house,  where  Brewster,  "  with  great  love,  en- 
tertained them  when  they  came,  making  pro- 
vision for  them  to  his  great  charge."  Those 
who  speak  of  Bradford's  lack  of  early  advan- 
tages forget  that  the  constant  companionship 
of  a  man  like  William  Brewster  was  in  itself 
a  liberal  education. 

The  congregation  to  which  Brewster  and 


2O  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Bradford  belonged  were  not  long  allowed  to 
assemble  peaceably  in  the  manor  house.  In- 
formers were  plenty;  and  they  were  hunted 
and  persecuted  on  every  side,  says  Bradford, 
"  so  as  their  former  afflictions  were  but  as 
flea-bitings  in  comparison  of  these  which 
now  came  upon  them.  For  some  were 
taken  and  clapt  up  in  prison,  and  others 
had  their  houses  besett  and  watcht  night  and 
day,  and  hardly  escaped  their  hands ;  and  ye 
most  were  faine  to  flie  and  leave  their  howses 
and  habitations,  and  the  means  of  their  livele- 
hood.  Seeing  themselves  thus  molested,  and 
that  ther  was  no  hope  of  their  continuance 
ther,  by  a  joynte  consente  they  resolved  to 
goe  into  ye  Low-Countries,  wher  they  heard 
was  freedome  of  Religion  for  all  men. 

"  Being  thus  constrained  to  leave  their 
native  soyle  and  countrie,  their  "lands  and 
livings,  and  all  their  friends  and  familiar  ac- 
quaintance, it  was  much,  and  thought  mar- 
velous by  many.  But  to  go  into  a  countrie 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    21 

they  knew  not  (but  by  hearsay,)  wher  they 
must  learn  a  new  language,  and  get  their 
livings  they  knew  not  how,  it  being  a  dear 
place,  and  subject  to  ye  misseries  of  warr,  it 
was  by  many  thought  an  adventure  almost 
desperate,  a  case  intolerable,  and  a  misserie 
worse  then  death.  Especially  seeing  they 
were  not  acquainted  with  trads  nor  traffique, 
(by  which  yt  countrie  doth  subsiste)  but  had 
only  been  used  to  a  plaine  countrie  life,  and 
ye  innocente  trade  of  husbandry.  But  these 
things  did  not  dismay  them  (though  they 
did  sometimes  trouble  them)  for  their  desires 
were  sett  on  ye  ways  of  God,  and  to  injoye 
his  ordinances ;  but  they  rested  on  his  provi- 
dence, and  knew  whom  they  had  beleeved." 

Yet  this  was  not  all,  continues  Bradford ; 
for  though  they  could  not-  stay,  yet  were 
they  not  suffered  to  go.  The  ports  and 
havens  were  closed  against  them  ;  they  were 
obliged  to  steal  away  like  criminals,  to  bribe 
the  mariners,  and  give  "  exterordinarie  "  rates 


22  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

for  their  passages,  and  were  many  times 
betrayed  and  surprised  and  intercepted,  and 
"  thereby  put  to  great  trouble  and  charge." 
At  one  time,  when  they  had  chartered  a  ship 
which  was  to  meet  them  at  Boston,  forty 
miles  from  Scrooby,  the  master  of  the  ship 
betrayed  them.  As  soon  as  the  victims  were 
on  board,  the  officers  appeared  and  hurried 
them  ashore.  After  robbing  and  maltreating 
them,  they  threw  them  into  prison.  The 
majority  were  released  in  a  few  weeks ;  but 
Bradford,  Brewster,  and  five  others  "of  ye 
principall"  were  kept  in  prison  for  some 
time.  Bradford  was  at  this  time  only  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  but  was,  as  we  see,  one 
"  of  ye  principall." 

The  next  year  another  attempt  was  made. 
This  time  they  engaged  a  "  Dutchman  at 
Hull"  who  had  a  ship  of  his  own.  A  few  of 
the  men  were  on  board  his  boat,  waiting  to 
receive  the  women  and  children  and  their 
goods  from  the  little  bark  which  had  brought 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    2$ 

them,  when  a  company  of  officers  appeared. 
The  cowardly  Dutch  captain  at  once  put  to 
sea,  without  waiting  for  the  rest  of  his  pas- 
sengers. Those  strong  men  wept.  They 
begged  to  be  put  ashore  that  they  might 
protect  their  families  and  their  possessions, 
but  in  vain.  They  were  carried  out  to  sea ; 
and  after  a  terrible  storm,  which  took  them 
nearly  a  thousand  miles  out  of  their  way, 
they  were  landed  in  Holland.  Here  Bradford 
was  arrested  as  a  fugitive  from  English  justice 
and  put  in  prison,  but  was  released  when  it 
was  found  he  was  only  a  religious  exile. 

After  many  other  disappointments  and 
mishaps  "  they  all  gatt  over  at  length,  some 
at  one  time  and  some  at  another,  and  some 
in  one  place  and  some  in  another,  and  mette 
togeather  againe  according  to  their  desires, 
with  no  small  rejoycing. 

"  Being  now  come  into  ye  Low  Countries, 
.they  saw  many  goodly  and  fortified  cities, 
strongly  walled  and  garded  with  troopes  of 


24  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

armed  men.  Also  they  heard  a  strange  and 
uncouth  language,  and  beheld  ye  differente 
maners  and  custumes  of  ye  people,  with  their 
strange  fashions  and  attires ;  all  so  farre  dif- 
fering from  yt  of  their  plaine  countrie  vil- 
lages (wherin  they  were  bred,  and  had  so 
longe  lived)  as  it  seemed  they  were  come  into 
a  new  world.  But  these  were  not  ye  things 
they  much  looked  on,  or  long  tooke  up  their 
thoughts ;  for  they  had  other  work  in  hand, 
and  another  kind  of  warr  to  wage  and  main- 
taine.  For  though  they  saw  faire  and  bewti- 
full  cities,  flowing  with  abundance  of  all  sorts 
of  welth  and  riches,  yet  it  was  not  longe  before 
they  saw  the  grime  and  grisly  face  of  povertie 
coming  upon  them  like  an  armed  man,  with 
whom  they  must  bukle  and  incounter,  and 
from  whom  they  could  not  flye;  but  they 
were  armed  with  faith  and  patience  against 
him  and  all  his  encounters;  and  though  they 
were  sometimes  foyled,  yet  by  God's  assist- 
ance they  prevailed  and  got  ye  victorie." 


THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    2$ 

Those  among  them  who  had  been  men  of 
property  had  expended  their  wealth  for  the 
common  good.  The  great  expense  of  bring- 
ing over  the  whole  number,  together  with  the 
losses  and  misfortunes  which  had  attended 
their  efforts,  had  swallowed  up  their  fortunes, 
so  that  all  were  now  upon  the  same  footing, 
—  obliged  to  earn  their  living  in  whatever 
way  they  could.  Bradford  apprenticed  him- 
self to  a  weaver;  others  became  hatters, 
wool-combers,  spinners,  carpenters,  brewers, 
bakers,  tailors,  and  masons. 

They  remained,  however,  but  a  few  months 
in  Amsterdam,  fearing  to  become  involved  in 
the  fierce  controversy  which  was  raging  be- 
tween the  two  English  churches  already  there. 
Hence  they  resolved  to  remove  to  Leyden, 
although  the  opportunities  for  earning  a  live- 
lihood were  less  favorable.  They  valued 
"  peace  and  their  spirituall  comforte  above 
any  other  riches  whatsoever.  And  at  length 
they  came  to  raise  a  competente  and  com- 


26  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

forteable  living,  but  with  hard  and  continuall 
labor." 

The  Rev.  John  Robinson,  their  pastor,  was 
a  "  common  father  to  them  all,"  in  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  affairs.  He  was  a  man 
rarely  gifted  for  the  place  he  was  called  to 
fill.  His  learning  and  talents  finally  brought 
him  into  such  notice  that  the  freedom  of  the 
university  was  extended  to  him.  Among 
the  privileges  and  perquisites  belonging  to 
this  honor  were  "  exemption  from  municipal 
control,  half  a  tun  of  beer  every  month,  and 
ten  gallons  of  wine  every  three  months." 
William  Brewster  was  chosen  as  assistant 
pastor  and  elder. 

Brewster,  however,  suffered  especial  hard- 
ships. He  had  spent  all  of  his  fortune  for 
the  common  good,  and  being,  by  his  age  and 
former  manner  of  life,  unfitted  for  the  trades 
and  callings  which  the  Pilgrims  were  forced 
to  take  up,  he  had  great  difficulty  to  support 
his  large  family.  But  his  cheerfulness  and 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    27 

dignity  never  failed  him.  At  length  he  ob- 
tained employment  in  teaching  English  to 
some  German  and  Danish  students  at  the 
university,  using  Latin  as  a  means  of  com- 
munication. He  invented  a  text-book  on  the 
plan  of  the  Latin  grammar,  and  attained 
some  celebrity  as  a  teacher.  Afterward  he 
set  up  a  printing-press,  bringing  out  a  num- 
ber of  theological  books  which  could  not 
safely  be  published  in  England.  The  Eng- 
lish government  demanded  his  arrest,  but  he 
escaped  by  flight. 

In  the  course  of  years  many  new  members 
were  added  to  the  little  congregation,  from 
different  parts  of  England,  and  Bradford  says 
they  were  sometimes  not  fewer  than  three 
hundred  communicants.  They  lived  in  Ley- 
den  eleven  or  twelve  years,  in  such  peace  and 
harmony  that  the  Dutch  magistrates  held 
them  up  as  an  example  to  the  French  Wal- 
loons, who-  also  had  a  church  there  but  who 
were  of  a  less  peaceable  disposition. 


28  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

At  length,  however,  the  wiser  members  of 
the  flock  began  to  talk  of  removal  to  some 
other  place.  "Not  out  of  any  newfangled- 
ness,  or  other  such  like  giddie  humor,  by 
which  men  are  oftentimes  transported  to 
their  great  hurt  and  danger,  but  for  sundrie 
weightie  and  solid  reasons." 

First,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  living; 
for  many  that  would  come  to  them  were 
unable  to  endure  the  labor  and  hard  fare, 
"yea,  some  even  preferred  and  chose  ye 
prisons  in  England  rather  than  this  libertie 
in  Holland  with  these  afflictions." 

Secondly,  though  the  people  generally 
bore  these  difficulties  very  cheerfully,  yet  old 
age  began  to  steal  on  many  of  them,  and 
they  saw  that  they  must  soon  scatter,  or  sink 
under  their  burdens. 

Thirdly,  "  as  necessitie  was  a  task-master 
over  them  they  were  forced  to  be  such  to 
their  children,"  and  many  of  them  were  over- 
taxed physically  and  growing  old  before 
their  time. 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    29 

"  But  that  which  was  more  lamentable,  and 
of  all  sorrowes  most  heavie  to  be  borne,  was 
that  many  of  their  children,  by  these  occa- 
sions, and  ye  great  licentiousness  of  youth  in 
yt  countrie,  and  ye  manifold  temptations  of 
the  place,  were  drawne  away  by  evill  examples 
into  extravagante  and  dangerous  courses,  get- 
ting yQ  raines  off  their  neks,  and  departing 
from  their  parents.  Some  became  souldiers, 
others  tooke  upon  them  farr  viages  by  sea, 
and  other  some  worse  courses,  tending  to 
dissolutenes  and  the  danger  of  their  souls, 
to  ye  great  greefe  of  their  parents  and  dis- 
honour of  God.  So  that  they  saw  their 
posteritie  would  be  in  danger  to  degenerate 
and  be  corrupted." 

Lastly,  the  hope  of  laying  some  founda- 
tion for  propagating  the  gospel  in  heathen 
lands.  For  these  reasons  and  others  they 
resolved  to  leave  Leyden  and  to  form  a 
colony  in  some  place  where  they  could  re- 
main Englishmen  and  train  up  their  children 


30  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

in  their  own  church.  Their  thoughts  turned 
to  America  as  the  only  land  offering  room 
for  their  plans.  Some,  won  by  the  glowing 
accounts  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  were  for  set- 
tling in  Guiana;  but  the  unsuitable  climate, 
and  the  fact  that  Spain  laid  claim  to  the 
region,  were  sufficient  objections.  Others 
moved  to  join  the  English  colony  already 
established  in  Virginia.  But  it  was  feared 
that  the  church  could  not  enjoy  in  Virginia 
the  independence  it  desired.  Those  who  had 
given  most  thought  to  the  subject  preferred 
a  location  farther  north,  yet  still  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Virginia  Company,  as  it 
was  called. 

Several  unsuccessful  attempts  had  been 
made  to  plant  a  colony  in  this  northern  lati- 
tude, but  in  each  case  the  colonists  had  given 
up,  and  had  returned  to  England  with  the 
most  disheartening  reports  of  the  country. 
Those  who  now  objected  to  the  scheme  did 
not  allow  the  promoters  of  it  to  forget  or 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    31 

ignore  the  dangers  and  difficulties  to  be 
faced.  They  not  only  urged  the  perils  of 
the  sea,  the  length  and  discomfort  of  the 
voyage,  the  change  of  climate,  the  liability  to 
famine  and  sickness,  but  added,  that  "  those 
which  should  escape  or  overcome  these  diffi- 
culties, should  yett  be  in  continuall  danger 
of  ye  salvage  people,  who  are  cruell,  barbar- 
ous and  most  trecherous,  being  most  furious 
in  their  rage,  and  merciles  wher  they  over- 
come; not  being  contente  only  to  kill,  and 
take  away  life,  but  delight  to  tormente  men 
in  ye  most  bloodie  manner  that  may  be; 
fleaing  some  alive  with  ye  shells  of  fishes, 
cutting  of  ye  members  and  joynts  of  others 
by  peesmeale,  and  broiling  on  ye  coles,  eate 
ye  collops  of  their  flesh  in  their  sight  whilst 
they  live;  with  other  cruelties  horrible  to 
be  related.  And  surely  it  could  not  be 
thought  but  ye  very  hearing  of  these  things 
could  not  but  move  ye  very  bowels  of  men 
to  grate  within  them,  and  make  ye  weake  to 


32  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

quake  and  tremble."     In  spite  of  all  this  they 
did  not  abandon  the  design. 

For  nearly  two  years  three  of  their  prin- 
cipal men  were  busy  in  England  making 
arrangements  for  the  emigration.  There 
were  two  joint  stock  companies  whose  busi- 
ness was  the  colonization  of  America,  and 
from  one  of  these  they  obtained  a  grant  of 
land,  the  place  to  be  chosen  by  themselves 
somewhere  near  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware. 
They  endeavored  also  to  obtain  a  charter 
from  King  James  with  the  privilege  of  reli- 
gious liberty.  But  the  most  the  king  could 
be  brought  to  promise  was  that  he  would 
connive  at  their  going,  and  would  not  molest 
them  so  long  as  they  conducted  themselves 
peaceably.  Many  were  frightened  at  this, 
and  afraid  to  venture  without  a  charter ;  but 
Bradford  wisely  saw  that  if  the  king's  word 
was  not  good  neither  would  his  seal  be, 
for  if  he  desired  to  wrong  them  he  could  do 
it  "though  they  had  a  seal  as  broad  as  ye 
house  flore." 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     33 

Arrangements  were  finally  made  with 
seventy  "  merchant  adventurers  "  in  London, 
who  were  to  furnish  the  capital  for  the  enter- 
prise, while  the  settlers  were  to  mortgage 
their  labor  for  seven  years,  during  which 
time  all  profits  and  benefits  "  gott  by  trade, 
traffick,  trucking,  working,  fishing,  or  any 
other  means  of  any  person  or  persons," 
were  to  be  turned  into  the  common  fund. 
At  the  end  of  seven  years  the  capital  and 
profits,  the  houses,  lands,  goods,  and  chattels, 
were  to  be  divided  equally  between  the  adven- 
turers and  planters.  The  colonists  found  some 
of  the  conditions  very  hard.  They  had  hoped 
to  reserve  two  days  in  the  week  for  themselves, 
"  for  their  own  private  imployment."  They 
also  felt  that  the  homes  which  they  should 
build  in  a  new  country  ought  to  belong  to 
them  at  the  end  of  the  seven  years  instead 
of  being  divided  with  the  adventurers.  But 
both  of  these  clauses  were  stricken  out  of  the 
agreement,  greatly  to  their  disappointment 
3 


34 


OLD    COLONY  DA  VS. 


When  these  things  had  been  settled,  they 
appointed  a  solemn  public  fast  to  ask  further 
guidance  of  the  Lord  as  to  who  should  go. 
There  was  not  money  enough  to  transport 
the  whole  company,  nor  could  all  have  been 
ready  to  go  at  once.  It  was  therefore  re- 
solved that  the  younger  and  stronger  mem- 
bers should  go  first,  but  only  such  as  should 
freely  offer  themselves ;  those  who  remained 
promising  to  join  them  as  soon  as  possible, 
if  the  Lord  gave  them  life,  means,  and  op- 
portunity. Pastor  Robinson  was  to  remain 
with  the  congregation  at  Leyden,  and  Elder 
Brewster  to  accompany  the  Pilgrims  to  the 
New  World. 

In  the  number  who  were  to  go  were  some 
who  were  but  recent  additions  to  the  flock ; 
among  others,  Edward  Winslow,  a  talented 
and  educated  young  Englishman,  who,  pass- 
ing through  Holland  three  years  before,  had 
been  so  charmed  with  the  little  community 
that  he  joined  himself  to  it.  He  was  now 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     35 

ready  to  accompany  them  in  this  perilous 
undertaking;  and  he  it  was  who  became 
their  tongue,  their  ever  ready  ambassador, 
whether  to  savage  tribes  or  to  English 
courts.  Another  recent  accession  was  the 
doughty  little  captain,  Miles  Standish,  who 
was  not  a  member  of  their  church,  and  was 
even  strongly  suspected  by  some  of  secret 
leanings  toward  Roman  Catholicism.  What- 
ever his  religion,  he  cast  in  his  lot  with  the 
Pilgrims,  and  proved  himself  their  brave  de- 
fender in  many  an  hour  of  terror. 

At  length  all  things  were  in  readiness  for 
the  departure.  A  small  ship  —  the  "  Speed- 
well "  —  was  brought,  which  was  to  carry 
them  to  Southampton,  where  they  were 
to  meet  the  larger  vessel  which  had  been 
procured  for  them,  —  the  "Mayflower."  The 
smaller  ship  was  to  carry  a  part  of  them 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  remain  with  them 
for  a  year.  Another  solemn  fast  was  kept, 
the  pastor  taking  for  his  text  Ezra  viii.  21 : 


36  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

"And  ther  at  ye  river  by  Ahava,  I  proclaimed 
a  fast,  that  we  might  humble  ourselves  before 
our  God,  and  seeke  of  him  a  right  way  for  us, 
and  for  our  children  and  for  all  our  substance." 
"  Upon  which,"  says  Bradford,  "  he  spente 
a  good  part  of  ye  day  very  profitably.  The 
rest  of  the  time  was  spente  in  pouring  out 
prairs  to  ye  Lord  with  great  fervencie,  mixed 
with  abundance  of  tears.  And  ye  time  being 
come  that  they  must  departe,  they  were  ac- 
companied with  most  of  their  brethren  out 
of  the  citie,  unto  a  town  sundrie  miles  off 
called  Delfes-Haven,  wher  the  ship  lay  ready 
to  receive  them.  So  they  lefte  yt  goodly  and 
pleasant  citie,  which  had  been  ther  resting 
place  near  twelve  years,  but  they  knew  they 
were  pilgrimes,  and  looked  not  much  on 
those  things,  but  lift  up  their  eyes  to  ye 
heavens,  their  dearest  countrie,  and  quieted 
their  spirits."  Bradford,  who  writes  these 
words,  was  leaving  behind  him  his  only 
child,  a  boy  not  more  than  six  years  old. 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    37 

"  When  they  came  to  ye  place  they  found 
ye  ship  and  all  things  ready;  and  such  of 
their  freinds  as  could  not  come  with  them 
followed  after  them  and  sundrie  also  came 
from  Amsterdame  to  see  them  shipte  and  to 
take  their  leave  of  them.  That  night  was 
spent  with  litle  sleepe  by  ye  most,  but  with 
freindly  entertainmente  and  Christian  dis- 
course and  other  real  expressions  of  true 
Christian  love.  The  next  day,  the  wind  being 
faire,  they  wente  aborde  and  their  freinds 
with  them,  where  truly  dolful  was  ye  sight  of 
that  sad  and  mournfull  parting;  to  see  what 
sighs  and  sobbs  and  praires  did  sound 
amongst  them,  what  tears  did  gush  from 
every  eye,  and  pithy  speeches  peirst  each 
harte;  that  sundry  of  ye  Dutch  strangers 
yt  stood  on  ye  key  as  spectators,  could  not 
refraine  from  tears.  Yet  comfortable  and 
sweete  it  was  to  see  shuch  lively  and  true 
expressions  of  dear  and  unfained  love.  But 
ye  tide  (which  stays  for  no  man)  caling 


38  OLD    COLONY  DAYS. 

them  away  yt  were  thus  loath  to  departe, 
their  Reverend  pastor  falling  downe  on  his 
knees  (and  they  all  with  him)  with  watrie 
cheeks  comended  them  with  most  fervente 
praiers  to  the  Lord  and  his  blessing.  And 
then  with  mutuall  imbrases  and  many  tears, 
they  tooke  their  leaves  one  of  another ;  — 
which  proved  to  be  ye  last  leave  to  many 
of  them."  This  was  the  embarkation  of  the 
Pilgrims. 

At  Southampton  they  found  the  "  May- 
flower," with  those  who  were  to  join  them 
there.  But  they  met  with  serious  delays  and 
provocations  in  their  final  arrangements  with 
the  adventurers.  At  length,  on  the  fifteenth 
of  August,  they  "  sett  sayle."  The  passen- 
gers were  divided,  ninety  being  assigned  to 
the  "  Mayflower  "  and  thirty  to  the  "  Speed- 
well." They  had  not  gone  far  when  the 
master  of  the  smaller  ship  complained  that 
his  ship  was  leaking,  and  that  he  dared  not 
go  farther.  Both  vessels  resolved  to  put 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     39 

into  Dartmouth  to  have  the  "  Speedwell " 
searched  and  mended,  which  was  done,  "  to 
their  great  charg  and  losse  of  time  and  a  faire 
winde."  They  again  put  to  sea,  but  had  gone 
only  three  hundred  miles  from  Land's  End 
when  the  master  of  the  small  ship  again  com- 
plained of  his  leaky  vessel,  declaring  he  could 
hardly  keep  her  free  by  constant  pumping. 
After  consultation  both  ships  put  back  to 
Plymouth. 

No  leak  could  be  discovered  in  the 
"  Speedwell ;  "  but  concluding  that  she  was 
unseaworthy  from  general  weakness,  they 
decided  to  send  her  back  to  London,  and 
continue  the  voyage  with  only  one  vessel. 
This  necessitated  leaving  a  part  of  the  pas- 
sengers; for  they  could  not  all  be  crowded 
into  the  "  Mayflower." 

"  The  which  (though  it  was  greevous  and 
caused  great  discouragmente)  was  put  into 
execution.  So  after  they  had  tooke  out  such 
provission  as  ye  other  ship  could  well  stow, 


4O  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

and  concluded  both  what  number  and  what 
persons  to  send  bak,  they  made  another  sad 
parting,  ye  one  ship  going  backe  for  London, 
and  ye  other  was  to  proceede  on  her  viage. 
Those  that  went  bak  were  for  the  most  parte 
such  as  were  willing  so  to  doe,  either  out  of 
some  discontente,  or  feare  they  conceived  of 
ye  ill  success  of  ye  vioage,  seeing  so  many 
croses  befall,  and  the  year  time  so  farr 
spente ;  but  others,  in  regarde  of  their  own 
weaknes,  and  charge  of  many  yonge  chil- 
dren, were  thought  least  usefull,  and  most 
unfite  to  bear  ye  brunte  of  this  hard  adven- 
ture; unto  which  worke  of  God,  and  judge- 
mente  of  their  brethren,  they  were  contented 
to  submite.  And  thus,  like  Gedeon's  armie, 
this  small  number  was  devided,  as  if  ye  Lord 
by  this  worke  of  his  providence  thought 
these  few  too  many  for  ye  great  worke  he 
had  to  do."  Afterward  it  was  learned  that 
the  master  of  the  "  Speedwell "  had  repented 
of  his  agreement  to  remain  a  year  with  the 
colonists,  and  had  deceived  them. 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    41 

Eighteen  of  the  company  were  sent  back 
to  London  in  the  "Speedwell."  The  remain- 
ing one  hundred  and  two  were  crowded  into 
the  "  Mayflower ;  "  and  they  put  to  sea  for 
the  third  time  on  the  sixteenth  of  Septem- 
ber. By  the  treachery  and  mismanagement 
of  others  they  had  been  robbed  of  six  weeks 
of  fair  weather,  and  the  journey  had  been 
pushed  into  the  most  unfavorable  season 
of  the  year.  In  mid-ocean  they  encountered 
terrible  storms,  by  which  the  ship  was 
"  shrewdly  shaken,"  and  the  main  beam 
amidships  "bowed  and  cracked."  The  fright- 
ened sailors  began  to  talk  of  returning,  and 
would  probably  have  done  so  had  not  Europe 
been  as  far  away  as  America.  Fortunately 
one  of  the  passengers  had  brought  from  Hol- 
land a  great  iron  jack-screw;  and  with  this 
the  beam  was  crowded  home.  One  of  the 
passengers  died  at  sea;  but  their  number  re- 
mained the  same,  for  Mistress  Hopkins  gave 
birth  to  a  boy,  who  received  the  appropriate 
name  of  Oceanus. 


42  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

On  the  twentieth  of  November,  at  break  of 
day,  they  espied  land,  and  the  appearance  of 
it  much  comforted  them.  It  proved  to  be 
Cape  Cod ;  and  as  their  patent  gave  them  no 
authority  to  settle  there,  they  turned  the 
ship  southward,  toward  the  mouth  of  the 
Hudson.  But  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of 
the  passage,  and  the  fierce  opposition  of  the 
captain,  forced  them  to  return  to  Cape  Cod 
harbor,  and  to  think  of  a  settlement  there. 
"  Being  thus  arrived  in  a  good  harbor  and 
brought  safe  to  land,  they  fell  upon  their 
knees  and  blessed  ye  God  of  heaven,  who 
had  brought  them  over  ye  vast  and  furious 
ocean,  and  delivered  them  from  all  ye  perils 
and  miseries  therof,  againe  to  set  their  feete 
on  the  firme  and  stable  earth,  their  proper 
element. 

"  But  hear,"  says  Bradford,  "  I  cannot  but 
stay  and  make  a  pause,  and  stand  half 
amased  at  this  poore  peoples  presente  con- 
dition ;  and  so  I  thinke  will  the  reader  too, 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    43 

when  he  well  considers  the  same.  Being 
thus  passed  ye  vast  ocean,  and  a  sea  of 
troubles  before  in  their  preparation  (as 
may  be  remembered  by  yt  which  wente 
before)  they  had  now  no  freinds  to  wellcome 
them,  nor  inns  to  entertaine  or  refresh  their 
weather-beaten  bodys,  no  houses  or  much 
less  townes  to  repair  too,  to  seeke  for  suc- 
coure.  It  is  recorded  in  scripture  as  a 
mercie  to  ye  apostle  and  his  ship  wraked 
company,  yt  the  barbarians  showed  them  no 
small  kindness  in  refreshing  them,  but  these 
savage  barbarians,  when  they  mette  with 
them  (as  after  will  appeare)  were  readier  to 
fill  their  sids  full  of  arrows  then  otherwise. 
And  for  ye  season  it  was  winter,  and  they 
that  know  ye  winters  of  yt  countrie  know 
them  to  be  sharp  and  violent,  and  subject  to 
cruell  and  feirce  storms,  deangerous  to  travill 
to  known  places,  much  more  to  serch  an 
unknown  coast.  Besides,  what  could  they 
see  but  a  hidious  and  desolate  wildernes, 


44  OLD   COLONY  DA  VS. 

full  of  wild  beasts  and  wild  men?  and  what 
multitudes  ther  might  be  of  them  they  knew 
not.  Nether  could  they,  as  it  were,  goe  up 
to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  to  vew  from  this  will- 
dernes  a  more  goodly  countrie  to  feed  their 
hops;  for  which  way  soever  they  turned 
their  eyes  (save  upward  to  ye  heavens)  they 
could  have  little  solace  or  content  in  respecte 
of  any  outward  objects.  For  summer  being 
done,  all  things  stand  upon  them  with  a 
wetherbeaten  face;  and  ye  whole  countrie, 
full  of  woods  and  thickets,  represented  a  wild 
and  savage  heiw.  If  they  looked  behind 
them,  there  was  ye  mighty  ocean  which  they 
had  passed,  and  was  now  as  a  main  barr  and 
goulfe  to  separate  them  from  all  the  civill 
parts  of  ye  world.  If  it  be  said  they  had  a 
ship  to  succoure  them,  it  is  trew;  but  what 
heard  they  daly  from  the  master  and  com- 
pany? but  that  with  speed  they  should  look 
out  a  place  with  their  shallop.  Yea,  it  was 
muttered  by  some,  that  if  they  gott  not  a 


THE   FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    45 

place  in  time,  they  would  turn  them  and 
their  goods  ashore  and  leave  them.  What 
could  now  sustain  them  but  ye  spirite  of  God 
and  his  grace?  May  not  and  ought  not  the 
children  of  these  fathers  rightly  to  say :  Our 
faithers  were  Englishmen  which  came  over 
this  great  ocean,  and  were  ready  to  perish  in 
this  wilderness;  but  they  cried  unto  ye  Lord 
and  he  heard  their  voyce  and  looked  on  their 
adversitie.  Let  them  therfore  praise  ye  Lord, 
because  he  is  good  and  his  mercies  endure  for 
ever" 

The  passage  from  Plymouth  to  Cape  Cod 
had  lasted  sixty-seven  days,  but  from  South- 
ampton it  had  been  ninety-nine  days,  while 
those  who  started  from  Delft  haven  had  been 
more  than  four  months  on  shipboard.  They 
must  still  be  content  in  midwinter  with  those 
narrow,  uncomfortable  quarters,  and  for  the 
women  and  children  there  were  many  weeks 
of  waiting  before  all  could  be  provided  for 
on  shore. 


46  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

The  place  where  they  now  were  was  wholly 
outside  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Virginia  Com- 
pany. Therefore  the  patent  which  it  had 
cost  them  so  much  trouble  to  procure  was 
useless.  They  had  no  doubt  of  being  able 
to  obtain  a  patent  from  the  other  company; 
but  in  the  mean  time  another  trouble  arose. 
Not  all  the  passengers  of  the  "  Mayflower " 
were  saints  by  any  means.  Not  all  of  them 
were  even  desirable  citizens,  as  later  events 
proved.  Their  relations  to  the  adventurers 
had  obliged  the  Pilgrims  to  allow  certain 
persons,  of  whom  they  knew  nothing,  to  join 
them  in  England.  From  some  of  these 
strangers  troublesome  and  mutinous  mutter- 
ings  were  now  heard,  to  the  effect  that  when 
they  came  ashore  they  would  have  their  own 
liberty;  since  the  patent  was  null,  and  they 
had  no  charter,  there  was  no  authority  to 
which  they  need  be  subject ;  as  soon  as  they 
landed  every  man  would  be  his  own  master. 
For  this  reason,  and  in  accordance  with 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    47 

Robinson's  advice  that  they  should  at  once 
frame  a  form  of  civil  polity,  forty-one  men 
met  in  the  little  cabin  of  the  "  Mayflower " 
and  signed  the  famous  compact :  "  In  the 
name  of  God,  amen.  We,  whose  names  are 
underwritten,  the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread 
sovereign  lord  King  James,  by  the  grace  of 
God  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland, 
King,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  etc.,  having 
undertaken  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
honor  of  our  King  and  country,  a  voyage  to 
plant  the  first  colony  in  the  northern  parts 
of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents  solemnly 
and'  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God,  and 
one  of  another,  covenant  and  combine  our- 
selves together  into  a  civil  body  politic,  for 
our  better  ordering  and  preservation  and 
furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid;  and  by 
virtue  hereof  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame 
such  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts, 
constitutions,  and  offices,  from  time  to  time, 


48  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  con- 
venient for  the  general  good  of  the  colony, 
unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission 
and  obedience.  In  witness  whereof  we  have 
hereunder  subscribed  our  names  at  Cape 
Cod,  the  Eleventh  of  November,  (Old  Style) 
in  the  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  lord 
King  James,  of  England,  France  and  Ireland, 
the  eighteenth,  and  of  Scotland  the  fifty- 
fourth-Anno  Dom.,  1620." 

"  This,"  said  John  Quincy  Adams,  "  is 
perhaps  the  only  instance  in  human  history 
of  that  positive,  original  social  compact 
which  speculative  philosophers  have  imag- 
ined as  the  only  legitimate  source  of  govern- 
ment. Here  was  a  unanimous  and  personal 
assent  by  all  the  individuals  of  the  commu- 
nity to  the  association,  by  which  they  became 
a  nation."  The  malcontents,  whoever  they 
were,  signed  the  compact  with  the  rest;  so 
that  all  had  pledged  themselves  to  be  bound 
by  such  laws  as  the  majority  should  adopt. 


THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    49 

After  this  they  elected  Mr.  John  Carver 
governor  for  that  year. 

Two  days  later  the  women  of  the  "  May- 
flower "  took  decisive  action.  They  insisted 
upon  being  carried  ashore  to  do  a  "  much 
needed  washing."  Monday,  the  twenty-third 
of  November,  deserves  to  be  remembered 
in  the  annals  of  history  as  the  first  "  wash 
day"  in  New  England. 

The  ship  was  now  anchored  about  a  mile 
from  the  site  of  Provincetown.  The  men 
got  out  the  shallop  which  they  had  brought 
from  England,  "  stowed  away  in  the  ship's 
quarters,"  and  set  the  carpenters  to  repairing 
it,  in  order  that  they  might  explore  the  coast 
to  find  a  suitable  site  for  a  town.  Too  im- 
patient to  wait  for  the  shallop,  sixteen  men, 
under  command  of  Capt.  Miles  Standish, 
made  an  expedition  on  foot.  They  were 
gone  three  days,  and  brought  back  some 
Indian  corn,  "  which  seemed  to  them  a  very 
goodly  sight,  they  never  having  seen  such 
4 


50  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

before."  This  corn  was  used  for  s£ed-corn, 
and  proved  the  salvation  of  the  colony. 
While  they  were  absent,  an  addition  had 
been  made  to  the  colony  by  the  birth  of 
Peregrine  White,  the  first  English  child  born 
on  the  coast  of  New  England. 

The  second  expedition  was  made  with  the 
shallop,  but  they  returned  discouraged,  hav- 
ing found  no  suitable  spot.  While  they  lay 
at  anchor  in  Cape  Cod  harbor,  the  whole 
company  came  near  being  blown  into  eter- 
nity by  the  ubiquitous  small  boy,  from  whom 
not  even  the  "Mayflower"  was  exempt. 
John  Billington,  having  found  a  loaded  gun, 
shot  it  off  in  the  cabin,  where  there  was  a 
keg  of  loose  powder  not  four  feet  from  the 
fire.  "  And  yet,  by  God's  mercy,  no  harm 
done,"  says  Bradford,  mildly. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  December,  ten  of  the 
men,  with  eight  seamen,  again  started  out  in 
the  shallop  to  find  a  larger  harbor,  although 
it  was  so  cold  that  the  sea  spray  froze  on 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    51 

their  clothes,  making  them  like  coats  of  iron. 
The  second  night  some  of  the  party  built  a 
barricade,  and  slept  on  shore.  In  the  morn- 
ing they  had  their  first  unpleasant  encounter 
with  the  Indians,  who  showered  arrows  upon 
them  from  behind  the  trees.  Fortunately 
no  one  was  hurt,  though  some  coats  hanging 
on  the  barricade  were  shot  through  and 
through.  Having  frightened  the  Indians 
away  with  their  firearms,  and  gathered  up 
eighteen  arrows  to  send  back  to  England, 
they  returned  to  their  boat. 

In  the  afternoon  a  storm  came  on  them, 
with  sleet  and  snow;  the  sea  grew  rough, 
the  rudder  broke,  their  mast  split  in  three 
pieces,  the  sail  fell  overboard,  the  pilot  lost 
his  head  entirely,  and  they  would  all  have 
been  cast  away  but  for  the  presence  of  mind 
of  one  of  the  sailors.  "  Though  it  was  very 
dark  and  rained  sore,  yet  in  ye  end  they  gott 
under  the  lee  of  a  small  iland,  and  remained 
there  all  yt  night  in  saftie.  But  they  did 


52  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

not  know  it  to  be  an  island,  and  some  were 
afraid  to  go  ashore  for  fear  of  the  Indians." 
Others  were  so  weak  and  cold  and  wet  that 
they  could  not  endure  it,  but  got  ashore 
and  built  a  fire.  After  midnight  the  wind 
changed  to  the  northwest,  it  froze  hard,  and 
all  were  glad  to  come  ashore.  "Ye  next  day 
was  a  faire,  sunshinig  day,  and  they  found 
them  sellvs  to  be  on  an  iland,  secure  from 
ye  Indeans,  wher  they  might  drie  their  stufe, 
fixe  their  peeces,  rest  themselves,  and  gave 
God  thanks  for  his  mercies  in  their  manifould 
deliverances.  And  this  being  the  last  day  of 
y'e  weeke,  they  prepared  ther  to  keepe  ye 
Sabath."  On  the  Sabbath  Day  they  rested. 
When  we  remember  their  situation,  —  the 
cold  winter  day,  so  far  from  the  ship,  on  an 
unknown  island,  with  no  shelter  over  their 
heads,  their  families  anxiously  awaiting  their 
return,  —  when  we  consider  all  this,  and  see 
these  men  quietly  keeping  the  Sabbath  on 
Clark's  Island,  we  can  form  some  estimate 


THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     53 

of  their  respect  for  the  day.  That  there 
could  be  any  combination  of  circumstances 
which  would  justify  "breaking  the  Sabbath" 
seems  never  to  have  entered  their  minds. 
In  this  connection  it  is  of  interest  to  note 
their  record  of  Christmas  a  few  days  later: 
"  We  went  on  shore,  some  to  fell  timber, 
some  to  saw,  some  to  rive,  and  some  to 
carry;  so  no  man  rested  all  that  day." 
Christmas  was  to  them  a  relic  of  popery; 
but  the  Sabbath  day  was  sacred. 

On  Monday  they  sounded  the  harbor,  and 
found  it  fit  for  shipping ;  they  marched  into 
the  land,  and  found  diverse  cornfields  and 
little  running  brooks,  —  a  place  very  good 
for  situation.  This,  then,  was  the  landing  of 
the  Pilgrims,  "  the  birthday  of  New  Eng- 
land." The  spot  which  they  had  chosen  had 
the  four  advantages  of  which  they  had  been 
in  search,  —  a  harbor  for  ships,  cleared  land, 
good  water,  and  natural  defences.  Long 
before,  by  a  singular  coincidence,  the  place 


54  OLD   COLONY  DAYS, 

had  received  from  Capt.  John  Smith  the 
name  of  Plymouth, — the  name  of  the  last 
port  in  England  from  which  they  had  sailed. 
The  exploring  party  had  been  absent  about  a 
week,  and  their  families  in  the  "  Mayflower" 
were  eagerly  awaiting  their  return.  "  So  they 
returned  to  their  shipe  againe  with  this  news 
to  ye  rest  of  their  people,  which  did  much 
comforte  their  harts." 

William  Bradford  was  one  of  the  explor- 
ing party.  On  his  return  to  the  ship,  weary 
and  worn  from  exposure,  but  glad  to  be  the 
bearer  of  good  news,  he  was  met  by  the 
terrible  tidings  that  the  young  wife  who 
had  accompanied  him  across  the  ocean  had 
fallen  overboard  and  drowned  during  his 
absence.  The  home  of  which  he  was  dream- 
ing in  the  lovely  spot  which  they  had  chosen 
would  be  a  lonely  one  for  him. 

By  the  end  of  the  week  the  "  Mayflower  " 
was  safely  anchored  in  Plymouth  harbor,  her 
journey  done,  her  name  made  immortal. 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     55 

Another  Sabbath  Day  the  Pilgrims  rested 
in  sight  of  the  "  promised  land/'  Then,  the 
majority  having  confirmed  the  choice  of  the 
ten  explorers,  they  set  to  work  to  build  a 
town  out  of  the  raw  material.  They  had  to 
hew  the  logs,  carry  stone,  make  mortar,  and 
cut  thatch.  On  the  hill  above  they  planned 
to  build  a  platform  for  their  cannon,  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  Indians,  whose  dusky 
forms  they  could  see  now  and  then  sulking 
about  among  the  trees. 

Another  hill  was  chosen  for  a  burying- 
ground;  for  so  many  were  the  dead  and 
dying  that  this  was  one  of  their  first  needs. 
A  common  house  was  built,  twenty  feet 
square,  to  receive  their  provisions,  and  to 
shelter  those  who  had  begun  to  sleep  on  the 
shore.  In  order  to  do  away  with  the  neces- 
sity of  building  many  houses,  the  company 
was  divided  into  nineteen  families  ;  and  each 
single  man  was  assigned  to  some  family. 

A  street  was  laid  out,  running  from  the 


56  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

harbor  to  the  hill,  parallel  with  the  little 
stream  which  they  called  Town  Brook.  The 
choice  of  location  was  determined  by  lot, 
and  homesteads  were  staked  out  on  each 
side  of  the  way.  The  street  was  at  first 
called  simply  "The  Street;  "  afterward, 
when  there  were  others,  it  was  called  First 
Street.  Two  hundred  years  later  it  received 
its  present  name  of  Leyden  Street.  It  is 
still  there ;  and  as  we  pass  between  the  two 
rows  of  houses,  along  the  path  so  often 
trodden  by  the  Pilgrims,  "  from  the  seaside 
to  the  hill,  ...  he  is  cold  indeed  who  does 
not  feel  the  thrill  that  comes  from  treading 
on  hallowed  ground." 

The  building  went  but  slowly.  "  Frost 
and  foul  weather  hindered  them  much." 
Seldom  could  they  work  more  than  half  the 
week.  Much  time  was  lost  in  going  to  and 
from  the  ship  ;  for  only  a  few  of  them  could 
sleep  in  the  "common  house."  The  ship  lay 
a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  shore ;  and  they 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.     57 

often  had  to  wait  for  the  tide.  Could  we 
linger  over  every  step  of  the  building  of  the 
town,  could  we  follow  day  by  day  Bradford's 
photographic  record  of  the  doings  of  the  Pil- 
grims during  these  first  weeks,  we  should 
find  every  page  full  of  interest,  full  of  quaint 
and  pathetic  incidents.  There  was  that  ter- 
ribly anxious  night  when  two  of  their  num- 
ber, who  had  gone  to  cut  thatch,  were  lost 
in  the  woods,  and  stood  all  night  listening  to 
the  howling  of  the  wolves,  trying  to  keep 
their  two  dogs  from  answering  the  howls, 
and  ready  to  climb  the  trees  at  a  moment's 
warning  if  the  wolves  should  approach  near. 
Thus  they  waited  for  daylight  with  the  very 
blood  freezing  in  their  veins.  Then  who  can 
forget  that  afternoon  walk  of  John  Goodman 
and  his  little  spaniel?  The  dog,  chased  by 
the  wolves,  crouched  for  protection  between 
his  master's  frozen  feet.  Goodman,  with  no 
weapon  but  a  stick,  tried  to  frighten  away 
the  wolves,  "  which  sat  on  their  tails  grinning 
at  him." 


58  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

After  three  weeks'  labor,  their  common 
house  being  finished  and  covered  with  a  roof 
of  thatch,  they  prepared  to  observe  the  Sab- 
bath there.  All  who  were  able  to  leave  the 
ship  were  to  attend  the  services.  But  on 
Sunday  morning,  when  those  on  shipboard 
turned  their  eyes  as  usual  toward  their  future 
home,  they  saw  the  common  house  in  flames. 
They  supposed  the  fire  to  be  the  work  of 
savages;  and  they  waited  in  trembling  un- 
certainty until  the  tide  would  permit  them  to 
go  ashore  and  learn  the  fate  of  their  breth- 
ren. They  found  that  the  fire  had  caught 
from  a  spark,  that  only  the  roof  had  burned, 
and  that  no  one  was  injured,  although  Gov- 
ernor Carver  and  William  Bradford  had  lain 
sick  in  the  house  with  their  loaded  muskets 
by  their  sides. 

"  In  these  hard  and  difficulte  beginings 
they  found  some  discontents  and  murmurings 
arise  amongst  some,  and  mutinous  speeches 
and  carriags  in  other;  but  they  were  soone 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    59 

quelled  and  overcome  by  ye  wisdome,  pa- 
tience, and  just  and  equall  carrage  of  things 
by  ye  Governor  and  better  part,  which  clave 
faithfully  together  in  ye  maine.  But  that 
which  was  most  sadd  and  lamentable  was, 
that  in  two  or  three  months  time  halfe  of 
their  company  dyed,  espetially  in  January 
and  February,  being  ye  depth  of  winter,  and 
wanting  houses  and  other  comforts;  being 
infected  with  ye  scurvie  and  other  diseases, 
which  this  long  vioyage  and  their  inaccom- 
modate  condition  had  brought  upon  them; 
so  as  ther  dyed  sometimes  two  or  three  of  a 
day,  in  ye  aforesaid  time;  that  of  one  hun- 
dred and  odd  persons,  scarce  fifty  remained. 
And  of  these  in  ye  time  of  most  distress, 
there  was  but  six  or  seven  sound  persons, 
who,  to  their  great  comendations  be  it 
spoken,  spared  no  pains,  night  nor  day,  but 
with  abundance  of  toyle  and  hazard  of  their 
owne  health,  fetched  them  woode,  made  them 
fires,  drest  them  meat,  made  their  beads, 


60  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

washed  their  lothsome  cloaths,  cloathed  and 
uncloathed  them;  in  a  word,  did  all  ye 
homly  and  necessarie  offices  for  them  which 
dainty  and  quesie  stomacks  cannot  endure 
to  hear  named;  and  all  this  willingly  and 
cherfully,  without  any  grudging  in  ye  least, 
shewing  herein  their  true  love  unto  their 
freinds  and  bretheren.  A  rare  example  and 
worthy  to  be  remembered.  Tow  of  these 
seven  were  Mr.  William  Brewster,  ther  Rev- 
erend Elder,  and  Miles  Standish,  ther  Cap- 
tein  and  military  commander,  unto  whom 
myselfe,  and  many  others  were  much  be- 
holden in  our  low  and  sicke  condition.  And 
yet  the  Lord  so  upheld  these  persons,  as  in 
this  generall  calamity,  they  were  not  at  all 
infected." 

We  have  many  instances  of  Elder  Brew- 
ster's  greatness  of  heart;  but  we  are  glad  to 
have  this  picture  of  Miles  Standisji  nursing 
the  sick,  —  glad  to  know  that  underneath 
that  fiery  temper  and  warlike  spirit  was  a 


THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    6 1 

nature  as  tender  and  gentle  as  a  woman's. 
Rose  Standish,  his  delicate  wife,  was  one  of 
the  first  to  droop  and  die  in  the  unkind  air 
of  New  England.  The  graves  upon  the  hill- 
side had  grown  so  numerous  that  they  were 
obliged  to  smooth  away  all  traces  of  them 
and  sow  the  place  with  grain,  through  fear 
lest  the  Indians  should  see  how  their  num- 
bers had  been  reduced  and  take  advantage  of 
their  weakness. 

One  of  the  first  steps  which  the  Pilgrims 
took  was  to  hold  a  town  meeting,  and  form  a 
military  organization,  electing  Miles  Standish 
as  their  commander.  In  the  beginning  the 
number  of  men  had  been  but  forty-one,  of 
whom  a  large  proportion  had  already  sick- 
ened and  died,  so  that  their  standing  army 
was  a  small  one.  Captain  Standish  could 
boast,  as  did  Caesar,  that  he  knew  the  name 
of  every  man  in  his  army.  Yet  he  yielded 
not  an  inch  of  his  authority,  but  insisted 
upon  strict  military  discipline  and  obedience. 


62  OLD    COLONY  DAYS. 

"John  Billington,  for  his  contempt  of  the 
Captain's  lawful  command  with  opprobrious 
speeches,  was  convented  before  the  whole 
company  and  adjudged  to  have  his  neck  and 
heels  tied  together,  but  upon  his  humbling 
himself  and  craving  pardon  he  was  released." 
During  all  this  time  they  had  had  no  com- 
munication with  the  natives,  although  they 
could  see  one  now  and  then  skulking  behind 
a  tree.  One  day  in  March,  a  dusky  savage, 
naked  save  for  a  leather  girdle  about  his 
waist,  passed  up  the  street  to  the  common 
house,  where  the  men  were  holding  a  town 
meeting,  and  greeted  them  with  the  word 
"  Welcome."  His  name  was  Samoset ;  and 
he  had  learned  some  English  words  from 
the  men  who  came  to  fish  on  the  coast  of 
Maine.  From  him  they  learned  that  the 
place  where  they  were  was  called  by  the  In- 
dians Pawtucket,  and  that  four  years  before 
a  terrible  plague  had  exterminated  the  tribe 
which  dwelt  there.  Samoset  was  well  re- 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    63 

ceived,  and  came  again  and  again,  the  third 
time  bringing  word  that  Massasoit,  the  grand 
sachem  of  the  tribes  of  Pokanoket,  wanted  to 
visit  them.  When  the  chief  appeared  with 
twenty  warriors,  they  received  him  with  as 
much  pomp  and  state  as  they  could  sum- 
mon. Captain  Standish  with  six  musketeers 
met  him  at  Town  Brook,  and  conducted  him 
to  a  house  where  a  green  rug  and  cushion 
had  been  placed  for  him.  Then  Governor 
Carver  appeared  with  a  small  body-guard  of 
musketeers,  attended  by  drum  and  trumpet. 
This  visit  was  of  the  gravest  importance.  A 
treaty  was  concluded  with  Massasoit  which 
was  not  broken  for  more  than  forty  years. 
He  also  undertook  to  convey  to  the  other 
tribes  the  peaceable  intentions  of  the  white 
men. 

Samoset  had  brought  with  him  Squanto, 
or  Tisquantum,  the  sole  surviving  Indian  of 
the  tribe  which  had  been  exterminated. 
Squanto's  life  had  been  saved  in  a  curious 


64  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

manner.  Some  seven  years  previously  Cap- 
tain Hunt,  one  of  John  Smith's  men,  having 
beguiled  a  score  of  Indians  into  his  ship 
under  pretence  of  trading,  carried  them  off 
to  Spain,  and  sold  them  as  slaves.  Squanto 
was  one  of  the  number.  He  was  taken  to 
England,  where  he  learned  the  language  and 
something  of  English  habits.  After  three  or 
four  years  he  was  carried  back  to  America 
by  Captain  Dermer,  to  find  himself  the  sole 
survivor  of  his  tribe.  Squanto  became,  as 
it  were,  the  guest  of  the  colony,  remaining 
with  them  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  proving 
of  great  service  as  an  interpreter.  He  also 
taught  them  how  to  sow  and  tend  their  corn, 
and  where  to  hunt  and  fish.  Captain  Hunt's 
treachery  had  aroused  in  the  Indians  a  feel- 
ing of  hatred  toward  all  white  men;  and 
when  they  saw  the  colonists  coming,  they 
looked  upon  them  as  enemies.  They  held 
an  assembly  in  a  "  dark  and  dismal  swampe,. 
.  .  .  where  they  got  all  the  Pawachs  of  ye 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    65 

country,"  says  Bradford,  "  for  three  days 
togeather,  in  a  horid  and  divellish  maner  to 
curse  and  execrate  them  with  their  conjura- 
tions." The  treaty  with  Massasoit  was  there- 
fore a  gain  of  no  small  importance. 

At  length  the  weary  winter  wore  away. 
"  Warm  and  fair  weather  appeared  and  the 
birds  sang  in  the  trees  most  pleasantly.  ...  It 
pleased  God  the  mortalitie  begane  to  cease 
amongst  them,  and  ye  sick  and  lame  recov- 
ered apace,  which  put  as  it  were  new  life 
into  them;  though  they  had  borne  their  sadd 
affliction  with  much  patience  and  contented- 
nes,  as  I  thinke  any  people  could  doe." 

There  was  no  necessity  now  for  the  nine- 
teen houses  they  had  planned  to  build.  A 
much  smaller  number  would  suffice.  Half 
the  company  had  found  a  home  in  the 
"house  not  made  with  hands."  Many,  many 
times  had  the  sad  pilgrimage  been  made  to 
the  hill  which  they  had  chosen  for  a  burial- 
ground.  And  now,  with  the  approach  of 
5 


66  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

spring,  another  trial  was  before  them.  The 
"  Mayflower,"  which  had  remained  in  the 
harbor  through  the  winter,  was  to  return  to 
England.  The  crew,  as  we  know,  were 
coarse,  inhuman  men.  The  captain  had 
shown  the  Pilgrims  scant  courtesy.  The 
occasions  when  they  were  "  kindly  and 
friendly  together"  had  been  rare  enough  to 
be  worthy  of  special  mention.  Yet,  with  all 
that,  it  was  a  sad  day  when  the  old  ship 
sailed  away.  She  was  the  only  connecting 
link  between  the  Pilgrims  and  the  civilized 
world.  With  her  departure  all  possibility  of 
return,  all  means  of  communication  were 
cut  off.  They  might  be  destroyed  by  the 
Indians  or  swept  away  by  disease,  and  none 
would  know  their  fate.  Five  hundred  miles 
to  the  north  of  them  were  a  few  Frenchmen. 
Five  hundred  miles  to  the  south  was  the 
little  colony  of  Jamestown.  But  practically 
all  the  white  people  on  the  continent  were  as 
far  removed  from  them  as  if  they  had  been 


THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    67 

in  Europe.  The  Pilgrims  were  surrounded 
by  savage  tribes,  of  which  only  one  had  signi- 
fied peaceable  intentions.  Yet,  in  the  face  of 
all  these  discouragements,  when  the  "  May- 
flower" sailed  away  not  one  of  the  Pilgrims 
was  on  board.  Surely  the  words  which 
Brewster  had  written  were  true:  "It  is  not 
with  us  as  with  other  men,  whom  small 
things  can  discourage,  or  small  discontent- 
ments cause  to  wish  themselves  at  home 
again." 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  the  "  May- 
flower" the  colony  suffered  a  great  loss  in 
the  death  of  Governor  Carver.  He  returned 
from  the  field,  where  he  had  gone  to  labor 
with  the  others,  prostrated  with  the  heat,  and 
died  a  few  days  later.  They  buried  him  in 
"  great  lamentation  and  heaviness,  with  as 
much  solemnity  as  they  were  in  capacity  to 
perform,  with  a  discharge  of  some  volleys  of 
shot  of  all  that  bare  arms."  His  wife,  over- 
come with  grief,  followed  him  in  a  few 


68  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

weeks.     The  first  governor  of  Plymouth  left 
no  descendants. 

William  Bradford  was  chosen  as  Carver's 
successor;  and  from  that  time  until  his 
death,  thirty-six  years  later,  the  colony 
looked  upon  him  as  its  head.  "Five  times 
he  by  importunity  gat  off,  insisting  that  if 
the  office  of  governor  were  an  honor  others 
ought  to  share  it,  and  if  it  were  a  burden 
all  ought  to  help  to  bear  it."  He  succeeded 
in  having  Winslow  serve  three  years,  and 
Prince  two.  For  thirty-one  years  Bradford 
served  them  faithfully  as  governor;  and 
though  the  colony  was  small,  the  duties  of 
the  office  were  not  light.  He  was  required 
to  be  chief  justice,  minister  of  foreign  affairs, 
and  auditor  of  the  treasury.  There  were  also 
many  lesser  matters  to  which  he  was  obliged 
to  give  his  attention.  For  instance,  when 
famine  threatened,  and  the  stock  of  grain 
was  so  reduced  that  they  restricted  them- 
selves to  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  bread  a  day 


THE  FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    69 

for  each  person,  the  governor  caused  it  to 
be  given  out  daily,  "  otherwise,  had  it  been 
in  their  own  custodie,  they  would  have  eate 
it  up  and  then  starved."  The  governor  also 
worked  with  them  in  the  fields,  and  led  out 
the  men  to  their  work  every  morning. 

At  the  town  meetings,  not  only  had  mili- 
tary order  been  adopted,  but  also  such 
civil  laws  and  ordinances  as  were  thought 
"  behooveful  for  their  present  estate  and 
condition."  Soon  after  Bradford's  elec- 
tion occurred  the  second  offence  requiring 
punishment.  Two  young  men  became  en- 
gaged in  a  quarrel,  and  having  brought  over 
some  Old  World  ideas,  decided  to  settle  it 
by  a  duel.  With  a  sword  in  the  right  hand 
and  a  dagger  in  the  left  they  fought  until 
each  had  received  a  slight  wound,  and  their 
honor  was  satisfied.  But  not  so  the  honor  of 
the  colony.  The  Pilgrims  considered  it  a 
disgrace ;  and  the  duellists  were  sentenced  to 
lie  in  a  public  place,  neck  and  heels  tied 


7O  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

together,  for  twenty-four  hours.  The  punish- 
ment was  begun ;  but  after  an  hour  or  two 
of  suffering  the  culprits  pleaded  so  earnestly 
that  they  were  released.  The  treatment 
proved  effectual;  for  this  was  the  first  and 
last  duel  fought  in  the  "  old  colony." 

The  first  summer  of  Bradford's  administra- 
tion proved  a  busy  one.  Twenty-six  acres 
were  planted  and  tilled,  —  six  in  barley, 
wheat,  and  peas,  and  twenty  or  more  in 
corn.  By  the  advice  of  Squanto  two  or 
three  herrings  were  placed  in  each  hill  of 
corn  as  a  fertilizer.  When  we  remember 
that  they  had  neither  horses  nor  cattle,  that 
all  the  ground  had  to  be  broken  up  by  hand, 
the  many  tons  of  herrings  to  be  transported 
from  Town  Brook  to  the  fields,  and  that  their 
entire  force  consisted  of  twenty-one  men  and 
six  boys,  we  may  form  some  idea  of  their 
labors.  At  the  end  of  the  summer  "The 
Street"  contained  seven  dwelling-houses  and 
four  public  buildings,  —  one  used  for  worship 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    Jl 

and  for  town  meetings,  the  others  as  depots 
for  their  crops,  their  provisions,  and  their 
trading  stock.  A  fair  harvest  had  been 
gathered,  which  with  fish,  game,  and  fruit 
furnished  a  variety  of  food.  Besides  all 
this,  four  expeditions  had  been  made  to 
establish  peaceable  relations  with  the  differ- 
ent tribes  of  Indians.  In  view  of  this  gen- 
eral prosperity  Governor  Bradford  appointed 
a  day  of  Thanksgiving,  "  that  they  might 
after  a  special  manner  rejoice  together  after 
they  had  gathered  the  fruits  of  their  labors." 
To  be  neighborly  they  invited  Massasoit, 
who  came,  bringing  ninety  warriors  with 
him.  For  three  days  they  feasted  and  en- 
tertained this  company,  rehearsing  for  their 
benefit  their  military  tactics  and  evolutions. 
Thus  the  great  festival  of  Thanksgiving  was 
inaugurated  in  New  England,  and  we  are 
glad  to  know  that  wild  turkeys  were  a  fea- 
ture of  the  feast. 

In  November,  just  a  year  from   the  time 


/2  OLD   COLONY  DA  VS. 

the  Pilgrims  first  sighted  land,  another  ship 
arrived,  the  "Fortune,"  bringing  to  the  colony 
an  addition  of  thirty-five  members.  They 
were  received  with  open  arms,  though  as 
they  had  brought  no  provisions  their  arrival 
was  somewhat  inopportune.  The  colonists 
had  prepared  for  winter ;  but  when  they  saw 
the  number  of  mouths  almost  doubled,  they 
were  obliged  to  put  every  one  upon  half 
rations  until  spring.  The  second  year  fam- 
ine again  "pinched  them  sore,"  while  the 
third  spring,  by  the  time  their  corn  was 
planted,  "  all  their  victuals  were  spent,  and 
they  were  only  to  rest  on  God's  providence ; 
at  night  not  many  times  knowing  where  to 
have  a  bite  of  anything  the  next  day.  And 
so,  as  one  well  observed,  had  need  to  pray 
that  God  would  give  them  their  daily  bread, 
above  all  people  in  the  world."  Men  were 
seen  at  noon-day,  staggering  for  want  of  food. 
Elder  Brewster,  who  had  dined  in  palaces, 
and  had  often  feasted  the  whole  Scrooby 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    73 

congregation  in  his  own  house,  sat  down  to 
his  daily  dinner  of  boiled  clams  and  spring 
water,  and  thanked  God  that  he  and  his  were 
still  allowed  to  "suck  of  the  abundance  of 
the  seas  and  of  the  treasures  hid  in  the 
sand." 

They  now  began  to  ask  what  they  should 
do  to  raise  greater  crops  of  corn  wherewith 
to  prevent  such  misery.  After  long  debate, 
the  governor,  with  the  advice  of  the  chiefest 
among  them,  decided  to  let  every  man  plant 
his  own  corn.  This  year,  therefore,  they 
assigned  a  "  parcel  of  land  "  to  each  family 
for  its  own  use.  "  This  had  very  good  suc- 
cess; for  it  made  all  hands  very  industrious, 
so  as  much  more  come  was  planted  than 
otherwaise  would  have  bene,  by  any  means 
ye  governor  or  any  other  could  use,  and 
saved  him  a  great  deall  of  trouble  and  gave 
farr  better  contente.  The  women  now  wente 
willingly  into  ye  feild  and  tooke  their  litle 
ons  with  them  to  set  corne  which  before 


74  OLD  COLONY  DA  YS. 

would  aledg  weaknes,  and  inabilitie ;  whom 
to  have  compelled  would  have  bene  thought 
great  tiranie  and  oppression." 

Governor  Bradford  moralizes  on  this  result 
to  the  effect  that  communism  is  not  a  suc- 
cess. "  The  experience  that  was  had  in  this 
comone  course  and  condition,  tried  sundrie 
years,  and  that  amongst  godly  and  sober 
men,  may  well  evince  the  vanitie  of  that  con- 
ceite  of  Platos  and  other  ancients,  applauded 
by  some  of  later  times ;  —  that  ye  taking 
away  of  propertie,  and  bringing  in  com- 
unitie  into  a  comonewealth,  would  make 
them  happy  and  florishing;  as  if  they  were 
wiser  then  God.  For  this  comunitie,  (so 
farr  as  it  was)  was  found  to  breed  much  con- 
fusion and  discontent,  and  retard  much  im- 
ploymet  that  would  have  been  to  their 
benefite  and  comforte.  For  ye  yong-men 
that  were  most  able  and  fitte  for  labour  and 
service  did  repine  that  they  should  spend  their 
time  and  streincjth  to  worke  for  other  men's 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    75 

wives  and  children,  with  out  any  recompence. 
The  strong,  or  man  of  parts,  had  no  more 
in  devission  of  victails  and  cloaths,  then  he 
that  was  weake  and  not  able  to  doe  a  quarter 
ye  other  could;  this  was  thought  injuestice. 
The  aged  and  graver  men  to  be  ranked  and 
equalised  in  labours,  and  victails,  cloaths,  etc., 
with  ye  meaner  and  yonger  sorte,  thought  it 
some  indiginitie  and  disrespect  unto  them. 
And  for  men's  wives  to  be  commanded  to  doe 
service  for  other  men,  as  dresing  their  meate, 
washing  their  cloaths,  etc.,  they  deemd  it  a 
kind  of  slaverie,  neither  could  many  husbands 
well  brooke  it.  ...  And  would  have  bene 
worse  if  they  had  been  men  of  another  con- 
dition. Let  none  objecte  this  is  men's  cor- 
ruption, and  nothing  to  ye  course  it  selfe. 
I  answer,  seeing  all  men  have  this  corruption 
in  them,  God  in  his  wisdome  saw  another 
course  fiter  for  them." 

By  the  new  method  a  much  larger  crop 
was  sown ;    but  for  a  time  their  greater  in- 


76  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

dustry  and  pains  seemed  in  vain.  From 
May  to  July  there  was  a  heavy  drought, 
with  such  great  heat  that  the  corn  began 
to  wither  away.  A  day  of  fasting  was  ap- 
pointed,—  a  day  of  solemn  humiliation  and 
prayer.  They  assembled  in  the  fortified 
house  on  the  hill-top,  and  the  services  con- 
tinued some  eight  or  nine  hours.  When 
they  began  the  heavens  were  as  clear  as 
ever;  but  as  hour  after  hour  passed  by  in 
prayer,  the  sky  began  to  overcast,  and  at 
length  came  rain  "with  shuch  sweete  and 
gentle  showers,  as  gave  them  cause  of  re- 
joyceing  and  blessing  God.  It  came,  without 
either  wind,  or  thunder,  or  any  violence,  and 
by  degreese  in  that  abundance,  as  that  ye 
earth  was  thorowly  wete  and  soked  ther- 
with."  Winslow  says,  "  It  was  hard  to  say 
whether  their  withered  corn  or  drooping 
affections  were  most  quickened  or  revived." 
The  Indians  were  greatly  impressed  by  this 
answer  to  prayer,  particularly  by  the  manner 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    77 

of  it;  for  when  their  conjurers  brought  rain, 
they  said,  it  came  in  such  torrents  as  to  do 
more  harm  than  good  by  beating  down  the 
crops. 

In  this  year  the  colony  narrowly  escaped 
complete  destruction  by  the  Indians.  Mas- 
sasoit,  whose  life  had  been  saved  by  Wins- 
low,  in  his  gratitude  revealed  a  plot  of  the 
Neponsets  to  kill  every  white  man  on  the 
coast.  Standish,  by  prompt  and  heroic 
measures,  put  an  end  to  the  conspiracy,  and 
to  all  further  hostility  from  the  savages  for 
many  years. 

This  same  eventful  summer  arrived  two 
vessels,  —  the  "Anne"  and  the  "Little 
James,"-  — bringing  a  reinforcement  to  the 
colony  of  sixty  new  members.  "  Some  of 
them  being  very  usefull  persons,  and  became 
good  members  to  ye  body,  and  some  were  ye 
wives  and  children  of  shuch  as  were  hear 
allready.  And  some  were  so  bad,  as  they 
were  faine  to  be  at  charge  to  send  them 


78  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

home  again  ye  next  year."  Besides,  there 
came  some  that  did  not  belong  to  the  gen- 
eral body,  but  were  "  on  their  particular," 
as  they  called  it;  that  is,  they  were  subject 
to  the  general  government,  but  were  not 
under  contract  to  the  adventurers.  These 
afterward  caused  trouble  and  disturbance. 
The  new  arrivals  had  come  with  high  hopes, 
and  great  was  their  disappointment  at  what 
they  found.  "  When  they  saw  their  low 
and  poore  condition  a  shore,  they  were  much 
danted  and  dismayed,  and  according  to 
their  diverse  humores  were  diversly  affected; 
some  wished  them  selves  in  England  againe ; 
others  fell  a  weeping,  fancying  their  own 
miserie  in  what  they  saw  now  in  others ; 
other  some  pitying  the  distress  they  saw 
their  friends  had  been  long  in,  and  still 
were  under;  in  a  word,  all  were  full  of  sad- 
nes.  .  .  .  And  truly  it  was  no  marvell  they 
should  be  thus  affected,  for  they  were  in  a 
very  low  condition,  many  were  ragged  in 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    79 

aparell,  and  some  litle  beter  than  halfe 
naked.  For  food,  they  were  all  alike.  The 
best  dish  they  could  presente  their  friends 
with  was  a  lobster,  or  a  peece  of  fish,  with- 
out bread  or  anything  els  but  a  cupp  of  fair 
spring  water.  And  ye  long  continuance  of 
this  diate  and  their  labours  abroad,  had 
something  abated  ye  freshnes  of  their  former 
complexion." 

Among  those  who  came  in  the  "Anne" 
was  Mistress  Alice  Southworth,  who  in  less 
than  a  fortnight  became  the  wife  of  Governor 
Bradford,  —  rather  a  short  courtship,  unless 
we  may  believe  the  old  tradition  that  the 
two  had  been  lovers  in  England  many  years 
before.  Miles  Standish  also  found  a  wife  in 
the  "  Anne ;  "  and  Barbara  soon  consoled 
him  for  the  slight  put  upon  him  by  Priscilla. 
When  the  harvest  came,  the  famine  was  over. 
"The  face  of  things  was  changed  to  the  re- 
joicing of  the  hearts  of  many."  The  result 
of  the  individual  labor  was  apparent;  for 


8O  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

every  one  had  enough  for  the  year,  and  some 
of  the  abler  and  more  industrious  had  grain 
to  sell.  Edward  Winslow  had  returned  to 
England  in  the  "Anne,"  and  the  next  year 
he  brought  back  four  head  of  cattle,  —  "  the 
first  beginning  of  any  cattle  of  that  kind  in 
the  land."  As  John  Alden  and  Priscilla  had 
been  married  more  than  a  year,  the  picture 
of  Priscilla  riding  on  a  snow-white  bull,  on 
her  wedding  day,  is  an  anachronism.  The 
worst  hardships  of  the  Pilgrims  were  now 
over.  With  cattle  and  good  crops,  there  was 
not  to  be  any  more  suffering  for  food.  The 
existence  of  the  colony  was  assured. 

There  were  still,  however,  many  trials  and 
discouragements  before  the  colonists.  The 
death  of  John  Robinson,  their  pastor  in  Ley- 
den,  was  a  heavy  sorrow ;  for  they  had  hoped 
each  year  that  he  would  be  able  to  join 
them.  As  Elder  Brewster  was  not  a  clergy- 
man, and  hence  not  able  to  administer  the 
sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Sup- 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    8 1 

per,  they  felt  that  they  were  a  flock  without 
a  shepherd.  The  Elder,  however,  was  faith- 
ful in  "dispensing  the  gospel;"  and  none 
were  allowed  to  suffer  for  the  lack  of  hear- 
ing the  Word.  "  For  every  Lords  day  some 
are  appointed  to  visit  suspected  places,  and 
if  any  be  found  idling,  and  neglect  ye  hear- 
ing of  ye  word  (through  idlnes  or  profanes,) 
they  are  punished  for  ye  same." 

There  was  some  internal  dissension  and 
hard  feeling  stirred  up  by  those  who  came 
"  on  their  particular."  The  story  of  John 
Oldham  and  Mr.  Lyford,  and  of  the  colony's 
dealings  with  them,  as  told  by  Bradford,  is 
intensely  dramatic.  But  by  wisdom  of  the 
governor  all  their  plottings  were  brought 
to  naught.  There  were  also  some  very  un- 
pleasant passages  with  their  ill-conducted 
neighbors  at  Merrymount,  who  persisted  in 
selling  rum  and  firearms  to  the  Indians. 
This  "unruly  nest"  was  at  last  broken  up, 
and  its  leader  sent  to  England. 
6 


82  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

The  greatest  trial  of  the  colony  during  its 
first  seven  years  of  existence  was  its  uncom- 
fortable relation  with  the  adventurers  who 
had  furnished  the  capital  for  the  enterprise. 
There  were  mutterings  and  discontent  on 
both  sides.  Many  cargoes  of  beaver  fur  and 
clapboard  had  been  sent  back  to  England. 
In  return  they  received  no  supplies,  but  only 
constant  complaints  and  reproaches  and 
some  very  undesirable  settlers.  In  1627 
they  succeeded  in  buying  out  the  entire 
interest  of  the  adventurers  for  the  sum  of 
eighteen  hundred  pounds,  payable  in  instal- 
ments. They  thus  became  the  owners  of  the 
land  on  which  they  were  settled,  and  were 
able  to  make  an  equitable  division  of  prop- 
erty. Bradford  and  seven  others,  who  be- 
came the  bondsmen  of  the  colony,  undertook 
to  farm  its  trade,  and  to  pay  the  whole  in- 
debtedness. By  the  misconduct  of  their 
agent,  Allerton,  the  debt  was  largely  in- 
creased, but  in  time  all  was  paid.  They  also 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    83 

expended  several  hundred  pounds  in  bring- 
ing others  of  their  number  from  Leyden. 
The  time  had  now  come  when  the  Pilgrims 
were  no  longer  alone  on  the  continent. 
Encouraged  by  their  success,  hundreds,  even 
thousands,  of  Englishmen  had  crossed  the 
seas  to  escape  persecution.  They  had 
neighbors  at  Salem,  Boston,  Dorchester,  and 
elsewhere.  It  was  a  red-letter  day  when 
Governor  Bradford  travelled  to  Naumkeag 
(Salem)  to  give  the  little  church  there  organ- 
ized the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 

When  Bradford  had  filled  the  office  of 
governor  for  twelve  years,  he  succeeded  in 
pressing  Winslow  into  the  service  for  one 
year.  Winslow  was  succeeded  by  Prince ; 
but  the  next  year  Bradford  was  again  forced 
into  the  harness,  which  he  wore,  except  for 
three  short  intermissions,  until  his  death. 

It  was  a  sorrowful  day  for  the  governor  when 
some  of  the  "  Mayflower's  "  passengers,  — 
notably,  Miles  Standish,  John  Alden,  and  the 


84  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

Brewsters  —  took  their  families  across  the 
harbor  to  found  the  town  of  Duxbury.  Brad- 
ford feared  that  this  division  of  the  church 
would  provoke  the  Lord's  displeasure,  and 
considered  an  earthquake  which  occurred 
about  that  time  a  visible  sign  of  such  dis- 
approval. But  the  seceders  remained,  and 
others  followed  their  example.  By  1640 
the  colony  consisted  of  eight  towns.  The 
duties  of  the  governor  were  heavier  and 
more  complex ;  but  he  found  time  to  con- 
tinue his  history,  to  write  a  poem  now  and 
then,  and  to  begin  the  study  of  Hebrew,  that 
he  might  see  with  his  own  eyes  something 
of  that  holy  tongue  in  which  the  laws  and 
oracles  of  God  were  written.  Before  leaving 
Holland  he  had  studied  Greek  and  Latin, 
French  and  Dutch.  He  was  also  well  skilled 
in  history,  antiquity,  philosophy,  and  theol- 
ogy, says  Cotton  Mather.  And  now  in  his 
old  age  he  turned  his  attention  to  Hebrew. 
At  the  back  of  his  manuscript  history  are 


THE  FATHER   OF  AMERICAN  HISTORY.    85 

several  pages  of  Hebrew  exercises  in  Brad- 
ford's writing,  with  the  following  note  pre- 
fixed :  "  Though  I  am  growne  aged,  yet  I 
have  had  a  longing  desire  to  see,  with  my 
owne  eyes,  something  of  that  most  ancient 
language,  and  holy  tongue,  in  which  the  Law 
and  oracles  of  God  were  write;  and  in  which 
God,  and  angels,  spake  to  the  holy  patriarks 
of  old  time ;  and  what  names  were  given  to 
things,  from  the  creation.  And  though  I 
canot  attaine  to  much  herein,  yet  I  am  re- 
freshed to  have  seen  some  glimpse  hereof 
(as  Moyses  saw  the  land  of  Canan  a  farr  of). 
My  aime  and  desire  is,  to  see  how  words  and 
phrases  lye  in  the  holy  texte;  and  to  dis- 
cerne  somewhat  of  the  same,  for  my  owne 
contente." 

In  1655  Bradford  filed  eight  objections  to 
a  re-election ;  but  they  were  all  overruled, 
and  he  was  chosen  governor  for  the  thirtieth 
time.  The  following  year  he  was  again 
chosen,  with  Standish,  as  usual,  for  one  of 


86  OLD    COLONY  DA  VS. 

the  assistants.  At  the  next  annual  meeting 
both  their  seats  were  vacant.  Winslow  had 
died  the  year  before.  That  noble  trio  which 
had  served  the  colony  for  so  many  years,  the 
ready  tongue,  the  firm  hand,  the  wise  brain, 
were  all  at  rest  Bradford's  body  was  carried 
to  the  top  of  Burial  Hill.  No  religious  ser- 
vices were  held ;  for  that  would  have  "  sa- 
vored of  Popery."  The  whole  community 
stood  quietly  by  till  the  grave  was  filled  and 
a  volley  fired  over  it.  The  Pilgrims  knew 
what  they  had  lost,  and  so  long  as  any  sur- 
vivors of  the  "Mayflower"  were  left,  they 
loved  to  speak  of  Bradford  as  the  "  Common 
blessing  and  father  of  us  all." 


THE  EARLY  AUTOCRAT  OF  NEW 
ENGLAND. 


THE  EARLY  AUTOCRAT  OF  NEW 
ENGLAND. 

"XT  O  people  in  the  world  were  ever  more 
jealous  of  ritual  and  liturgy  —  the  au- 
thority of  church  and  priest  —  than  the  early 
settlers  of  New  England.  In  their  fear  of  a 
hierarchy  they  did  not  allow  the  clergy  to 
hold  certain  offices,  and  they  prevented  them 
from  officiating  at  funerals  and  weddings. 
The  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by 
magistrates.  They  disliked  the  word  church, 
and  called  the  place  where  they  assembled 
for  worship  the  "meeting-house." 

In  spite  of  all  this  watchful  care  against 
the  form  and  letter  of  the  hierarchy,  no 
people  were  ever  more  thoroughly  under  the 
control  of  the  clergy  than  these  same  early 
settlers  of  New  England.  The  real  auto- 
89 


90  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

crat  of  early  New  England  was  the  Puritan 
preacher.  And  it  was  not  alone  from  the 
pulpit  that  he  exercised  authority;  his  hand 
was  seen  in  every  matter,  great  and  small. 
The  laws  by  which  the  colony  was  to  be 
governed  were  framed  by  him.  True,  the 
code  based  on  Joshua  and  Jeremiah,  drawn 
up  by  "  that  godly,  grave,  and  judicious 
divine,"  Mr.  John  Cotton,  was  rejected;  but 
the  code  which  was  finally  adopted  —  the 
famous  "Body  of  Liberties"  —was  framed 
by  another  clergyman,  —  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Ward,  of  Ipswich. 

So  great  was  the  esteem  and  honor  in 
which  the  clergy  were  held  that  "  speaking 
slanderously  or  reproachfully  of  the  minis- 
ter" was  an  offence  to  be  met  with  dire 
punishment.  The  offender  was  required  to 
"  stand  two  hours  openly  upon  a  block  four 
feet  high,  on  a  lecture  day,  with  a  paper 
fixed  upon  his  breast,  with  the  words  '  A 
WANTON  GOSPELLER  '  written  in  capital  let- 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NE  W  ENGLAND      9  I 

ters,  that  others  might  fear  and  be  ashamed 
of  breaking  out  into  the  like  wickedness."  A 
man  in  Windham  was  punished  for  saying  he 
"  had  rather  hear  his  dog  bark  than  to  hear 
Mr.  Bellamy  preach,"  and  promised  there- 
after to  put  a  guard  upon  his  tongue.  A 
New  Haven  man  was  whipped  for  saying  he 
received  no  profit  from  the  minister's  ser- 
mons. Mistress  Oliver,  for  "reproaching  the 
elders,"  was  forced  to  stand  in  public  with  a 
cleft  stick  on  her  tongue.  In  short,  in  most 
of  the  towns,  "  speaking  deridingly  of  the 
minister's  powers,"  or  "  casting  uncharitable 
reflections  on  the  minister,"  was  a  crime  to 
be  avoided. 

In  laying  out  a  new  town,  the  first  thing  to 
be  done  was  to  select  a  site  for  a  meeting- 
house ;  the  second  step  was  setting  aside  fifty 
acres  for  the  minister,  —  "it  being  as  unnat- 
ural for  a  right  New  England  man  to  live 
without  an  able  ministry  as  for  a  Smith  to 
work  his  iron  without  a  fire,"  as  Johnson  tells 


92  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

us  in  his  "  Wonder  Working  Providence." 
In  the  list  of  things  noted  in  1629,  which 
were  needed  for  New  England,  the  order  is : 
"first,  ministers;  second,  Patent  under  Seal; 
third,  Seal ;  "  and  after  that,  seed  grains  of 
various  sorts.  The  reason  for  this  ascend- 
ency of  the  clergy  is  not  far  to  seek.  One 
of  the  earliest  Puritan  preachers,  the  Rev. 
Francis  Higginson,  writes:  "Let  it  never  be 
forgotten,  that  our 'New  England  was  origin- 
ally a  plantation  of  religion  and  not  a  planta- 
tion of  trade.  And  if  there  be  a  man  among 
you  who  counts  religion  as  twelve,  and  the 
world  as  thirteen,  let  such  a  one  remember 
that  he  hath  neither  the  spirit  of  a  true  New 
England  man,  nor  yet  of  a  sincere  Christian." 
There  were  few  indeed  of  the  early  colo- 
nists who  counted  religion  as  twelve  and  the 
world  as  thirteen.  Religion  stood  first  with 
them.  The  government  which  they  thought 
to  found  was,  as  one  of  their  number  de- 
scribed it,  a  theocracy.  They  planned  a  sort 


EARL  Y  A UTOCRA  T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.     93 

of  "  Biblical  Commonwealth,  of  which  God 
should  be  the  ruler  and  the  Bible  the  statute 
book."  They  had  no  thought  of  founding  a 
democracy.  Said  Cotton :  "  Democracy  I 
do  not  conceyve  that  ever  God  did  ordeyne 
as  a  fitt  government  eyther  for  church  or 
commonwealth.  If  the  people  be  governors, 
who  shall  be  governed?"  They  could  con- 
ceive of  no  circumstances  in  which  the  Bible 
was  not  an  explicit  guide.  To  quote  again 
from  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  who  was  one 
of  their  chief  advisers :  "  I  am  very  apt  to 
believe  that  the  word  and  Scriptures  of  God 
doe  conteyne  a  short  upoluposis,  or  platforme, 
not  only  of  theology,  but  also  of  other  sacred 
sciences,  attendants,  and  hand  maids  ther- 
unto,  —  ethicks,  oeconomics,  politics,  church- 
government,  prophesy,  academy.  It  is  very 
suitable  to  God's-all-sufficient  wisdom,  and  to 
the  fulness  and  perfection  of  Holy  Scriptures, 
not  only  to  prescribe  perfect  rules  for  the 
right  ordering  of  a  private  man's  soule,  but 


94  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

also  for  the  right  ordering  of  a  man's  family, 
yea,  of  the  commonwealth  too.  When  a 
commonwealth  hath  liberty  to  mould  his  own 
frame,  I  conceyve  the  Scripture  hath  given 
full  direction  for  the  right  ordering  of  the 
same." 

For  more  than  ten  years  they  had  no  other 
code  of  law  than  God's  word.  And  when,  in 
1641,  the  "  Body  of  Liberties"  was  adopted, 
the  preamble  provided  that  "  in  case  of  the 
defect  of  .the  law  in  any  particular  case,  the 
matter  should  be  decided  by  the  word  of 
God;  according  to  that  Word  to  be  judged 
by  the  General  Court." 

Under  such  a  government,  and  with  such 
a  code,  who  would  take  a  higher  position 
than  the  men  whose  main  business  in  life  was 
to  expound  and  explain  the  word  of  God 
and  apply  it  to  private  life?  Moreover,  the 
clergy  were  the  most  learned  men  in  the 
colony,  and  were  well  fitted  to  take  part  in 
its  councils.  They  were,  without  exception, 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NE IV  ENGLAND.      95 

graduates  of  the  universities  and  men  of 
ability.  So  it  was  only  natural  that  in  all 
grave  and  perplexing  cases  the  pastors  of 
the  churches  should  be  called  in  to  counsel 
and  advise  with  the  General  Court. 

There  was  no  use  for  lawyers.  We  find 
but  one  lawyer  in  the  colonial  history  of 
Boston,  and  he  had  a  sorry  time  of  it.  This 
was  Thomas  Lechford,  who,  in  his  three 
years'  residence,  had  but  one  case,  and  was 
all  the  time  regarded  with  distrust  and  sus- 
picion by  magistrates  and  people.  He  re- 
turned to  England  in  disgust,  and  wrote  one 
of  the  most  interesting  books  on  New  Eng- 
land, called  "  Plain  Dealing." 

Another  circumstance  which  added  to  the 
influence  of  the  clergy  was  the  limitation  of 
the  franchise.  We  have  said  that  the  colo- 
nists were  not  planning  a  democracy.  They 
had  their  distinctions ;  but  the  aristocracy 
which  they  planned  was  not  to  rest  upon 
birth  or  wealth  or  conquest,  but  on  the  sin- 


96  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

gular  requisite  of  "goodness."  Their  test  of 
goodness  was  that  men  should  worship  God 
in  the  same  way  that  they  did;  and  they 
therefore  settled  the  question  of  the  franchise 
very  simply,  by  allowing  none  to  vote  who 
were  not  members  of  the  church.  The  mo- 
tive assigned  was,  "  that  the  body  of  the 
commons  may  be  possessed  of  good  and 
honest  men."  We  might  think  it  would  be 
easy  to  join  the  church  for  the  sake  of  secur- 
ing one's  political  rights ;  but  it  was  not  so 
simple  a  matter  as  it  looks  to  us.  The  con- 
ferring with  the  church  officers,  the  being 
propounded,  having  one's  past  life  examined, 
and  making  public  rehearsal  of  one's  pri- 
vate experience,  made  it  a  complex  affair 
not  to  be  lightly  undertaken.  There  were 
times  when  not  more  than  one  fifth  of  the 
male  population  of  Boston  were  church  mem- 
bers and  voters. 

But  if  deprived  of  the  franchise,  the  non- 
voters  were  by  no  means  deprived  of  church 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NE  W  ENGLAND.      97 

privileges.  Indeed,  these  privileges  were 
thrust  upon  them.  Not  only  were  they  gov- 
erned by  the  churchly  rules,  and  obliged  to 
help  support  the  pastor,  but,  whether  they 
would  or  not,  they  had  to  listen  to  his  ser- 
mons. If  any  one  absented  himself  from 
church,  he  was  hunted  up  by  the  tithing- 
man,  and  fined  five  shillings  for  the  first 
offence.  If  he  stayed  away  a  whole  month 
together,  he  could  be  put  in  the  stocks  or  in 
the  wooden  cage.  He  had  to  come  in  time 
too.  In  Scituate,  one  Bryant  entered  the 
church  after  service  had  begun,  and  Parson 
Wetherell,  at  the  close  of  his  prayer,  thus 
addressed  him :  "  Neighbor  Bryant,  it  is  to 
your  reproach  that  you  have  disturbed  the 
worship  by  entering  late,  living  as  you  do 
within  a  mile  of  this  place;  and  especially  so 
since  here  is  Goody  Barstovv,  who  has  milked 
seven  cows,  made  a  cheese,  and  walked  five 
miles  to  the  house  of  God  in  good  season." 
The  New  Haven  code  of  laws  ordered  that 
7 


98  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day  should  be  pun- 
ished by  fine,  imprisonment,  or  corporal  pun- 
ishment; "and  if  proudly,  and  with  a  high 
hand  against  the  authority  of  God,  —  with 
death." 

Though  it  was  dangerous  to  stay  away  from 
church,  it  was  still  more  dangerous  to  go, 
unless  one  were  able  to  place  a  guard  upon 
one's  tongue.  We  have  seen  how  "Wanton 
Gospellers "  fared ;  and  the  old  records  of 
the  different  towns  are  full  of  sentences 
against  those  whose  criticisms  were  too  free. 
"  Nathaniel  Haddock  was  sentenced  to  be 
severely  whipped  for  declaring  that  he  could 
receive  no  profit  from  Mr.  H.'s  preaching. 
Thomas  Maule  received  ten  stripes  for  de- 
claring that  Mr.  H.  preached  nothing  but  lies, 
and  that  his  instruction  was  the  doctrine  of 
devils.  The  wife  of  Nicholas  Phelps  was  sen- 
tenced to  pay  five  pounds  or  be  whipped,  for 
asserting  that  this  same  Mr.  H.  sent  abroad 
his  wolves  and  bloodhounds  among  the  sheep 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NE  W  ENGLAND.     99 

and  lambs."  Nor  was  it  enough  to  abstain 
from  criticism.  One  had  to  give  respectful 
attention  to  the  sermon ;  for  the  tithing-man 
was  on  the  watch  to  see  that  every  one  kept 
awake.  He  had  his  rod,  with  a  fox-tail  on 
one  end  and  a  ball  on  the  other.  If  it  were  a 
woman  who  fell  asleep,  her  face  was  brushed 
with  the  fox-tail;  if  a  man,  he  received  a 
smart  tap  on  the  head  from  the  ball  end. 
Thomas  Scott,  of  Lynn,  was  snoring  so 
audibly  that  a  sound  rap  was  necessary  to 
awaken  him.  He  started  up  angrily,  and 
knocked  the  officer  down.  For  this  offence 
he  was  taken  to  court  and  condemned  to  be 
severely  whipped  for  "  common  sleeping"  at 
public  worship,  and  for  striking  him  that 
waked  him.  Then  the  boys !  It  is  a  relief 
to  find  how  much  akin  these  Puritan  boys 
were  to  the  boys  of  to-day.  In  the  records 
of  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  Connecticut  are 
notes  of  their  "  rude  and  idel  behavior  in  the 
meting  hows,  such  as  Smiling  and  Larfing, 


100  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

and  pulling  the  hair  of  his  nayber,  benoni 
Simkins  in  the  time  of  public  worship." 
Some  churches  were  obliged  to  allow  twenty 
shillings  a  year  to  an  officer  for  looking  to 
the  boys,  and  keeping  peace  in  the  church. 
It  was  no  small  task  to  sit  still  and  keep 
awake  during  a  sermon  which  lasted  from 
two  to  three  hours,  and  that,  too,  in  a  church 
without  heat.  Judge  Sewall  records  that  on 
one  occasion  the  sacrament  bread  was  frozen 
so  hard  that  it  rattled  in  the  plate  like  beads. 
And  still  the  congregation  sat  solemnly  quiet 
until  the  minister  got  safely  through  his 
finally  and  lastly. 

If  reverence  for  the  minister  was  thus 
rigidly  enforced,  still  more  strict  were  the 
laws  with  regard  to  reverence  for  the  church 
and  all  that  it  stood  for.  Profanity  was  one 
of  the  worst  of  crimes.  A  man  in  Hartford, 
for  "  his  filthy  and  profane  expressions,  viz. 
that  hee  hoped  to  meet  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Church  in  Hell  before  long,  and  he 


EARL  Y  A UTOCRA  T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.   I O I 

did  not  question  but  hee  should,"  was  com- 
mitted to  prison,  "  there  to  be  kept  in  safe 
custody  till  the  sermon,  and  then  to  stand 
the  time  thereof  in  the  pillory,  and  after  ser- 
mon to  be  severely  whipped."  Mr.  Tomlin, 
of  Lynn,  was  fined  for  saying,  "  Curse  ye 
woodchuck  !  "  and  Mr.  Dexter  was  "  putt  in 
ye  bilboes  for  prophane  saying  dam  ye 
cowe !  "  What  would  a  Harvard  student  of 
to-day  say  to  the  case  of  Thomas  Sargeant,  a 
student,  two  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago  ? 
"  Thomas  Sargeant  was  examined  by  the  Cor- 
poration :  finally  the  advice  of  Mr.  Danforth, 
Mr.  Stoughton,  Mr.  Thatcher,  Mr.  Mather 
(then  present)  was  taken.  This  was  his 
sentence.  That  being  convicted  of  speaking 
blasphemous  words  concerning  the  H.  G.* 
he  should  be  therefore  publickly  whipped 
before  all  the  Scholars.  2.  That  he  should 
be  suspended  as  to  taking  his  degree  of 
Bachelour  (this  sentence  read  to  him  twice 
*  The  Holy  Ghost. 


102  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

at  the  Pr'ts,  before  the  committee,  and  in  the 
Library  .  .  .  )  3.  Sit  alone  by  himself  in 
the  Hall  uncovered  at  meals,  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  President  and  fellows,  and  be 
in  all  things  obedient,  doing  what  exercise 
was  appointed  him  by  the  President,  or  else 
be  finally  expelled  the  Colledge.  The  first 
was  presently  put  in  execution  in  the  Library, 
.  .  .  before  the  Scholars.  He  kneeled  down 
and  the  instrument  Goodman  Hely  attended 
to  the  President's  word  as  to  the  performance 
of  his  part  in  the  work.  Prayer  was  had 
before  and  after  by  the  President."*  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  Thomas  did  not  swear  again 
in  college.  The  prayer  before  and  after  the 
whipping  is  as  characteristic  of  the  times  as 
the  sentence  itself. 

In    a    community   where    words    were    so 

carefully    weighed    and    morals    so    closely 

watched,    where  the  clergy  made  the  laws, 

and  the  voters  and  office-holders  had  to  be 

*  Sewall's  Diary. 


EARL Y  A UTOCRA T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.    103 

church  members,  we  can  imagine  the  influ- 
ence and  prestige  of  the  preacher.  There 
was  no  talk  in  that  day  of  keeping  politics 
out  of  the  pulpit.  To  give  his  opinion  on 
all  public  questions,  and  to  inform  his  people 
of  their  duties,  was  a  part  of  his  task.  The 
election  sermon  was  one  of  the  great  events 
of  the  year.  No  pastor  would  neglect  to  tell 
his  people  how  to  vote.  His  preaching  was 
not  confined  to  the  Sabbath.  There  was  the 
"great  and  Thursday,"  as  they  called  it, — 
the  weekly  lecture,  which  was  to  the  seven- 
teenth century  what  the  opera  is  to  the  nine- 
teenth. It  was  their  one  dissipation;  and  it 
became  so  much  of  a  dissipation  that  the 
General  Court  had  to  interfere  to  regulate 
the  hours.  It  was  held  on  Thursday  in  Bos- 
ton, and  on  other  days  in  the  neighboring 
towns ;  and  there  was  much  going  back  and 
forth  on  these  days.  Judge  Sewall  often 
took  long  rides  in  order  to  be  in  Salem  or 
elsewhere  on  lecture  day,  which  was  a  day  of 


104  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

visiting  and  hospitality.  There  were  other 
things  besides  the  Gospel  to  give  zest  to  the 
Thursday  lecture.  On  that  day  the  names 
of  those  who  were  intending  marriage  were 
called  aloud  in  the  church.  Those  who 
had  committed  some  misdemeanor  were  pub- 
licly reproved  before  the  whole  congrega- 
tion. Greater  offenders  were  placed,  during 
lecture  hour,  in  the  pillory,  or  the  stocks, 
which  stood  on  either  side  of  the  meeting- 
house. People  with  troubled  consciences 
sometimes  arose  during  the  service  and 
made  confession  of  secret  sins.  It  was  also 
the  day  for  the  whipping-post.  Therefore 
there  was  no  knowing  what  event  you  might 
miss  if  you  stayed  away  from  the  Thursday 
lecture. 

The  life  of  a  minister  was  not  a  sinecure. 
In  addition  to  the  Sunday  sermons  and  the 
Thursday  lecture,  Mr.  Cotton  preached  three 
times  a  week  besides,  —  on  Wednesday  and 
Thursday  evening  and  Saturday  afternoon. 


EARLY  A UTOCRA T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.   10$ 

He  also  held  a  daily  lecture  in  his  own 
house.  Then  there  were  the  fast  days  and 
other  special  days,  when  he  would  "  spend 
six  hours  in  the  word  and  in  prayer."  The 
Rev.  Joshua  Moody  wrote  four  thousand  ser- 
mons in  his  lifetime.  Preaching  was  only 
one  feature  of  the  pastor's  work.  Among 
his  other  duties  were  catechising  the  chil- 
dren of  the  parish,  listening  to  cases  of  con- 
science, giving  counsel  on  every  subject,  and 
making  pastoral  visits.  "  He  must  have  five 
or  six  separate  seasons  for  private  prayer 
daily,  devoting  each  day  in  the  week  to 
special  meditations  and  intercessions  —  as, 
Monday  to  his  family,  Tuesday  to  enemies, 
Wednesday  to  the  churches,  Thursday  to 
other  societies,  Friday  to  persons  afflicted, 
and  Saturday  to  his  own  soul."  *  He  must 
have  his  fast  days  both  public  and  private. 
And  as  nothing  in  the  world  was  begun  or 

*  T.  W.  Higginson,  Atlantic  Essays,  p.  199. 


IO6  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

ended  without  prayer,  he  must  officiate  very 
frequently  in  that  way. 

One  would  think  this  clerical  life  was  as 
full  as  it  could  be  crowded ;  but  in  addition 
to  these  manifold  duties,  the  pastor  often  had 
to  earn  his  own  living,  either  by  tilling  the 
acres  given  him  or  by  skill  in  some  other 
direction ;  for  his  salary  was  by  no  means  in 
proportion  to  his  authority.  Parson  Everett, 
of  Sandwich,  added  to  his  slender  income  by 
sweeping  the  meeting-house  and  taking  care 
of  it,  for  which  work  he  was  paid  the  sum 
of  three  dollars  a  year.  The  same  thrifty 
parson  leased  a  fulling  mill,  and  spent  what 
leisure  he  had  in  cleansing  the  homespun 
clothes  of  his  parishioners.  Some  of  the 
pastors  earned  small  sums  by  drawing  up 
wills  and  other  legal  documents.  Some 
studied  medicine,  and  kept  a  stock  of  drugs 
for  sale.  The  inscription  on  the  grave  of 
Michael  Wigglesworth,  at  Maiden,  records: 

"  Here  lyes  interd  in  silent  grave  below 
Maulden's  Physician  of  Soul  and  Body  too." 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NE  W  ENGLAND.    I O/ 

Others  of  the  pastors  were  coopers,  car- 
penters, millers,  or  cobblers.  Many  of  them 
who  had  no  trade  at  command  received 
students  into  their  families  to  prepare  for 
college. 

It  might  be  thought  that  in  a  community 
which  was  governed  by  the  laws  of  Moses, 
which  was  settled  in  the  wilderness,  and 
removed  from  the  temptations  of  cities,  the 
pastor  would  have  but  little  difficulty  in 
keeping  his  flock  in  order,  —  that  he  would 
need  to  preach  only  doctrinal  sermons. 
There  were  doctrinal  sermons,  it  is  true;  for 
were  there  not  eighty-two  "  pestilential  her- 
esies" to  contend  against?  But  there  were 
also  many  practical  sermons.  There  were, 
as  we  have  seen,  "  pnishouse,  odious  and 
Squerulous  words"  to  be  suppressed;  there 
were  the  fashions  to  be  preached  about,  — 
the  wearing  of  veils,  and  of  "slashed  apparel" 
and  of  "  immoderate  great  sleeves."  And 
for  the  men  there  were  sermons  against  long 


IO8  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

hair,  and  later,  against  the  ungodly  fashion  of 
periwigs.  If  you  think  it  is  only  in  our  day 
that  people  are  the  slaves  of  fashion,  listen  to 
what  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Ward,  of  Ipswich, 
had  to  say  to  the  women  two  hundred  and 
forty  years  ago.  He  will  borrow,  he  says, 
"  a  little  of  their  loosed  tongued  liberty  and 
misspend  a  word  or  two  upon  their  long 
waisted  but  short  skirted  patience.  I  honor 
the  woman  that  can  honor  herself  with  her 
attire;  a  good  text  always  deserves  a  fair 
margent  but  as  for  a  woman  who  lives  but  to 
ape  the  newest  court  fashions,  I  look  at  her 
as  the  very  gizzard  of  a  trifle,  the  product  of 
a  quarter  of  a  cipher,  the  epitome  of  nothing; 
fitter  to  be  kicked  if  she  were  of  a  kickable 
substance  than  either  honored  or  humored. 
To  speak  moderately,  I  truly  confess,  it  is 
beyond  my  understanding  to  conceive  how 
these  women  should  have  any  true  grace  or 
valuable  virtue,  that  have  so  little  wit  as  to 
disfigure  themselves  with  exotic  garbs,  as 


EARLY  A UTOCRA T  OF  NEW  ENGLA ND.    1 09 

not  only  dismantles  their  native,  lovely  lustre 
but  transclouts  them  into  gaunt  bar-geese, 
ill  shapen  shotten  shellfish,  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphics, or  at  the  best  into  French  flirts  of 
the  pastry,  which  a  proper  English  woman 
should  scorn  with  her  heels.  It  is  no  marvel 
they  wear  drails  on  the  hinder  part  of  their 
heads ;  having  nothing,  it  seems,  in  the  fore- 
part but  a  few  squirrels'  brains  to  help  them 
frisk  from  one  ill  favored  fashion  to  another." 
There  were  also  sermons  to  be  preached 
against  the  popish  superstitions  of  keep- 
ing Christmas  and  saints'  holidays.  There 
were  certain  worldly  practices  and  amuse- 
ments that  new  comers  were  trying  to  bring 
over.  If  we  would  see  how  they  handled 
their  subjects,  we  may  read  Increase  Mather's 
sermon  entitled,  "  Testimony  against  several 
popular  and  superstitious  customs  now  prac- 
ticed by  some  in  New  England.  Against 
stage  plays,  promiscuous  dancing,  health 
drinking,  cards  and  dice  and  such  like  games. 


1 10  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Against  profane  Christmas  keeping.  Against 
New  Year's  gifts.  Candlemas,  Shrove  Tues- 
day. The  vanity  of  making  cakes  on  such  a 
day."  ' 

As  for  more  serious  subjects,  we  learn 
from  Cotton  Mather  with  what  enemies  they 
had  to  contend.  The  seventh  book  of  his 
remarkable  Magnalia,  entitled  "  A  Book  of 
the  Wars  of  the  Lord,"  narrates  the  afflic- 
tive disturbances  which  the  churches  of  New 
England  have  suffered  from  their  various 
adversaries,  viz. :  "  the  Devil,  Separatists, 
Familists,  Antinomians,  Quakers,  Clerical 
imposters  and  Indians."  As  for  the  first  of 
these,  we  fear  he  is  still  abroad  in  the  land ; 
and  for  the  last  of  the  seven,  —  the  Indians 
—  they  were  regarded  as  the  natural  children 
of  the  devil,  his  worshippers  and  followers. 
To  exterminate  them  was  to  weaken  the 
powers  of  darkness.  Eliot  and  Mayhew, 
indeed,  prayed  for  their  conversion ;  but 
during  King  Phillip's  War,  Increase  Mather 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NE  W  ENGLAND.    1 1 1 

prayed  openly,  in  the  pulpit,  every  Sunday, 
for  the  death  of  that  miserable  monarch. 
On  a  certain  Sunday  he  forgot  to  insert  that 
clause  in  his  prayer,  and  was  greatly  troubled 
by  the  omission,  until  he  learned  afterward 
that  his  prayers  had  already  been  effectual, 
—  that  King  Phillip  had  died  before  the  Sun- 
day in  question.  The  other  enemies  men- 
tioned—  Separatists,  Familists,  Antinomians, 
and  Quakers  —  were,  most  of  them,  con- 
quered after  long  and  bitter  struggles,  and 
driven  forth  into  that  "  Paradise  of  heretics," 
—  Rhode  Island. 

Not  all  of  them,  however,  reached  that 
haven.  Some  few  were  put  to  death.  We 
who  love  New  England  may,  indeed,  wish 
that  no  Quakers  had  ever  been  hanged  on 
Boston  Common.  But  we  may  wish  also 
that  the  Quakers  had  not  chosen  to  go 
through  the  streets  and  into  the  churches 
naked,  or  clothed  in  sackcloth  and  ashes. 
And  we  must  admit  that  even  our  tolerant 


112  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

modern  divines  would  find  it  somewhat  irri- 
tating to  have  people  stand  up  in  the  congre- 
gation and  interrupt  the  sermon  with  such 
epithets  as  these :  "  Thou  firebrand  !  thou 
moon-calf!  thou  gormandizing  priest!  thou 
bane  of  reason  and  beast  of  the  earth  ! "  We 
must  remember,  too,  that  these  disturbers  of 
the  peace  were  begged  to  leave  in  peace,  and 
take  themselves  and  their  heresy  elsewhere; 
but  that  they  persisted  in  returning  to  Bos- 
ton, and  courted  death  by  making  them- 
selves as  conspicuous  as  possible.  We  must 
remember  also  that  the  Quakers  were  not 
merely  heretics ;  they  opposed  themselves  to 
the  political  order  of  things.  They  would 
not  bear  arms  or  pay  taxes;  they  refused 
allegiance  to  the  charter,  and  denied  the 
authority  of  the  laws.  Moreover,  it  was  not 
an  age  of  toleration.  Those  who  have  said 
that  our  Puritan  forefathers  came  here  to 
found  freedom  of  worship,  and  then  turned 
persecutors  themselves,  have  wholly  mis- 


EARL Y  A UTOCRA T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.   1 1 3 

taken  their  motives.  Liberty  of  worship  was 
farthest  from  their  thoughts.  They  came 
here  to  worship  God  in  their  own  way;  but 
they  were  just  as  certain  that  their  way  was 
the  way  as  was  ever  Archbishop  Laud  him- 
self. They  believed  that  the  presence  of 
such  people  would  endanger  the  Common- 
wealth, and  that  they  had  a  right  to  brand 
them  with  H.  for  heretic,  and  R.  for  rogue, 
and  drive  them  from  their  midst.  "  Let  us 
be  just,  even  to  the  unjust !  "  says  Colonel 
Higginson. 

In  any  history  of  the  founders  of  New 
England  how  many  of  the  honored  and 
familiar  names  belong  to  the  ranks  of 
the  clergy !  We  cannot  think  of  Hartford 
without  Thomas  Hooker;  of  Providence 
without  Roger  Williams  ;  of  Cambridge  with- 
out the  "  holy,  heavenly,  sweet-affecting,  soul- 
ravishing  Mr.  Shephard ;  "  or  of  Boston 
without  John  Cotton  and  the  three  genera- 
tions of  Mathers,  —  father,  son,  and  grand- 
8 


114  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

son.  In  the  old  burying-ground  on  Copp's 
Hill  is  a  table-like  monument  bearing  the 
names  of  Increase  Mather  and  Cotton  Mather. 
The  names  on  the  moss-covered  stone  are 
almost  illegible,  and  the  memory  of  them 
has  also  grown  dim  in  men's  minds ;  but  no 
two  men  ever  had  greater  influence  in  Boston 
than  the  two  who  lie  in  this  forgotten  grave. 

Historians  refer  to  their  day  as  the  Mather 
dynasty.  Increase  Mather  (whose  name  "was 
given  him  by  his  father  because  of  the  never- 
to-be-forgotten  Increase,  of  every  sort,  where- 
with God  favored  the  country,  about  the  time 
of  his  Nativity,")  was  for  more  than  sixty 
years  the  pastor  of  the  old  North  Church, 
and  during  a  great  part  of  that  time  was 
also  president  of  Harvard  College.  From 
his  diaries  we  might  think  his  whole  life 
was  given  up  to  ecstatic  prayers,  divine 
afflations,  and  visions ;  but  he  gave  the  clos- 
est attention  to  public  affairs.  Although  he 
held  no  office,  no  question  of  importance  was 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.    1 1 5 

decided  in  Boston  without  his  advice.  In 
those  dark  days  when  Charles  II.  was  de- 
manding the  surrender  of  her  charter  from 
Massachusetts,  the  freemen  of  Boston  met 
together,  and  invited  Increase  Mather  to  give 
them  his  views  of  this  "  Case  of  Conscience." 
He  urged  them  to  trust  themselves  in  the 
hands  of  God  rather  than  in  the  hands  of 
men,  —  that  is,  to  hold  on  to  their  charter. 
At  the  close  of  his  "  pungent  speech,  many 
of  the  Freemen  fell  into  tears ;  and  there  was 
a  general  acclamation,  '  We  thank  you,  Syr. 
We  thank  you,  Syr.' "  The  assembly  voted 
against  the  surrender  of  the  charter  without 
a  dissenting  voice. 

When  the  charter  was  annulled  by  James 
II.,  and  the  hated  governor,  Sir  Edmund 
Andros,  sent  over,  Mr.  Mather  opposed  with 
great  plainness  every  encroachment  of  the 
new  government.  Andros  and  his  associates 
recognized  his  power,  and  paid  him  the  com- 
pliment of  hating  him  thoroughly.  "  New 


Il6  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

England's  Mahomett,"  they  called  him, — 
"  The  Bellows  of  Sedition  and  Treason." 
When  the  tyranny  of  Andros  became  unen- 
durable, and  the  colony  decided  to  send  an 
agent  to  England  to  complain  of  it  and  to 
labor  for  a  new  charter,  Mr.  Mather  was 
chosen  for  the  mission.  He  had  two  or 
three  audiences  with  King  James,  and  ob- 
tained fair  promises  from  the  crafty  king; 
but  before  anything  was  done,  James  was 
obliged  to  flee,  and  the  power  passed  into 
the  hands  of  William  and  Mary.  The  new 
monarchs  had  so  many  important  problems 
to  solve  that  they  could  not,  at  first,  give 
special  thought  to  the  colonies  across  the 
sea.  Therefore  they  issued  a  circular  letter 
to  all  the  colonies,  confirming  the  old  gov- 
ernors until  further  orders.  This  would  rein-/ 
state  Sir  Edmund  Andros.  But,  in  the 
mean  time,  the  people  of  Boston,  as  soon  as 
they  heard  of  the  revolution  in  England,  had 
risen  up  in  revolt,  had  placed  Andros  and 


EARL  Y  A UTOCRA T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.  1 1 / 

his  associates  in  prison,  and  had  restored  the 
old  government  as  it  was  under  the  charter. 
Increase  Mather  knew  that  if  Andros  were 
restored  to  power,  though  only  for  a  short 
time,  he  would  bitterly  revenge  himself  for 
the  indignities  he  had  suffered.  Mather, 
therefore,  took  upon  himself  the  responsi- 
bility of  interfering  with  the  royal  letter,  and 
in  some  way  succeeded  in  stopping  it.  He 
then  waited  upon  the  king  and  queen  at 
every  opportunity,  and  pressed  the  claims  of 
New  England.  With  all  his  efforts  he  could 
not  obtain  the  restoration  of  the  old  charter; 
and  the  charter  that  he  finally  secured  was 
very  unsatisfactory  to  the  colonists.  It  left 
to  the  king  the  appointment  of  a  governor. 
There  were  some  advantages,  however,  which 
they  failed  to  appreciate.  Although  the 
crown  appointed  the  governor,  the  colonists 
paid  him,  and  in  their  own  way;  and  that 
gave  them  a  hold  upon  the  royal  governors 
which  they  did  not  fail  to  use,  down  to  the 


Il8  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

time  of  the  Revolution.  The  king  showed 
his  appreciation  of  Mr.  Mather's  importance 
by  the  singular  favor  of  allowing  him  to 
choose  the  new  governor,  as  well  as  the  other 
officers  to  be  appointed  by  the  crown.  Mr. 
Mather  chose  for  the  first  governor  that 
famous  knight,  Sir  William  Phipps,  whose 
history  is  a  romance  by  itself. 

The  new  charter  had  one  provision  which 
was  very  distasteful,  even  to  Mr.  Mather. 
It  extended  the  franchise  to  allow  other  than 
church  members  to  vote.  This,  so  far  as  the 
power  of  the  clergy  was  concerned,  was  the 
"  beginning  of  the  end."  Increase  Mather 
was  the  last  possessor  of  the  almost  absolute 
power  of  the  Puritan  clergy.  Nevertheless, 
for  a  time,  nearly  equal  power  and  importance 
belonged  to  his  son,  Cotton  Mather,  who  was 
descended  not  only  from  the  Mathers,  but 
from  the  "  father  and  glory  of  Boston,"  — 
John  Cotton.  An  epitaph  was  written  for 
his  grandfather, — 


EARLY  A UTOCRA T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.    1 1 9 

"  Here  lies  Richard  Mather, 
Who  had  a  son  greater  than  his  father, 
And  a  grandson  greater  than  either." 

We  can  best  understand  the  spirit  of  those 
old  Puritan  divines,  and  the  atmosphere  in 
which  they  lived,  by  a  glance  at  Cotton 
Mather's  childhood.  Truly,  in  his  case,  the 
child  was  father  to  the  man.  He  began  to 
pray,  he  says,  when  he  began  to  speak.  He 
used  secret  prayer,  not  confining  himself  to 
forms.  But  when  he  was  seven  or  eight 
years  old,  he  composed  forms  of  prayer  for 
his  schoolmates  and  obliged  them  to  pray. 
"  I  rebuked  my  playmates  for  their  wicked 
words  and  ways;  and  sometimes  suffered 
from  them  the  persecution  of  not  only  Scoffs 
but  Blows  also,  for  my  rebukes."  His  chief 
fault,  he  says,  was  idleness ;  yet  we  find  that 
at  the  age  of  eleven  he  could  speak  Latin  so 
readily  that  he  was  able  to  write  the  notes 
of  sermons  in  that  language.  He  had  con- 
versed with  Cato,  Terence,  Tully,  Ovid,  and 


I2O  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Virgil,  had  made  epistles  and  themes,  had 
gone  through  a  great  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  Greek,  had  read  considerably  in 
Socrates  and  Homer,  and  had  made  some 
entrance  into  Hebrew  grammar.  Before  he 
came  to  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  had  "  com- 
posed Hebrew  exercises  and  ran  through  the 
other  sciences."  At  twelve  he  was  admitted 
to  Harvard  College,  and  graduated  at  six- 
teen. When  he  took  his  second  degree,  the 
subject  of  his  thesis  was,  "The  Hebrew  vowel 
points  are  of  divine  origin." 

He  was  but  twenty  years  old  when  he  was 
called  to  be  his  father's  assistant  in  the  North 
.Church ;  and  he  remained  minister  of  that 
church  all  his  life.  A  leaf  from  his  diary 
gives  a  glimpse  of  his  daily  life  at  this  time. 
"Read  Exodus,  34,  35,  36.  Prayed,  Exam- 
ined the  children;  read  Descartes;  read  com- 
mentators ;  breakfasted ;  prepared  sermon ; 
took  part  in  family  prayer;  heard  pupils 
recite;  read  Salmon  on  medicine;  dined; 


EARL  Y  A  UTOCRA  T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.    1 2 1 

visited  many  friends;  read  various  books; 
prepared  sermon ;  heard  pupils  recite  ;  med- 
itated; prayed;  supped;  prepared  sermon; 
took  part  in  family  prayer."  As 'the  record 
of  a  week's  work  we  find  that  he  preached 
on  Lord's  Day  and  on  Monday,  Tuesday, 
Wednesday,  and  Thursday.  He  very  often 
preached  five  times  in  one  week,  and  some- 
times five  times  in  two  days.  In  one  year  he 
observed  sixty  private  fast  days  and  twenty 
vigils.  On  one  occasion  two  friends  hap- 
pened in  when  he  was  busy  with  a  private 
fast,  and  instead  of  giving  it  up,  he  "preached 
unto  them  three  sermons,  each  of  them  about 
an  hour  long  apeece."  Naturally,  with  so 
much  fasting  and  prayer,  he  saw  visions. 
At  one  time  an  angel  appeared  to  him  in 
white  and  shining  robes,  with  wings  and  a 
tiara.  He  had  also  his  personal  encounters 
with  the  devil.  He  records  his  temptations  in 
Latin,  for  fear,  as  he  adds  in  Latin,  "  lest  my 
dear  wife,  sometime  looking  over  these  papers, 


124  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

personal  character  of  his  religion,  —  his 
constant  communication  with  the  "  invisible 
world."  His  relations  with  the  devil  were 
equally  personal.  One  Sunday  morning 
Satan's  emissaries  stole  the  carefully  pre- 
pared notes  of  his  sermon.  He  entered  the 
pulpit,  nevertheless,  and  preached  extempore. 
"  So  the  divil  got  nothing  out  of  it,"  he  said. 
When  the  demons  brought  their  books  for 
the  possessed  to  sign  away  their  souls,  he 
regarded  it  as  a  direct  defiance  from  hell 
against  his  efforts;  for  he  worked  for  God 
by  writing  books.  After  this  challenge  he 
worked  more  busily  at  it  than  ever.  The 
titles  of  his  printed  works  number  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three,  —  all  of  them  religious 
or  theological.  It  was  a  poor  year  that  did 
not  bring  out  ten  or  twelve  works  from  his 
pen.  His  great  work,  his  labor  of  love,  was 
the  "  Magnalia  Christi  Americana,"  or,  the 
"  Ecclesiastical  History  of  New  England." 
Considered  as  literature,  the  Magnalia  is  very 


EARL  Y  A UTOCRA T  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.    I 2 5 

dull  reading ;   but  as  a  mirror  of  the  Puritan 
style  of  thinking,  it  is  invaluable. 

We  have  seen  that  the  new  charter,  which 
gave  the  privilege  of  voting  to  non-church 
members,  dealt  a  heavy  blow  to  the  clergy. 
The  witchcraft  tragedy  finally  broke  the 
power  of  the  theocracy.  For  the  last  thirty 
years  of  their  lives,  the  Mathers  —  father  and 
son —  fought  an  ever-losing  battle  against  the 
new  order  of  things.  They  used  every  means 
in  their  power,  both  fair  and  foul,  historians 
say,  to  restore  the  polity  of  the  fathers.  But 
all  in  vain.  The  theocracy  could  not  be 
restored.  The  old  regime  ended  with  the 
Mathers.  The  ministers  of  the  eighteenth 
century  occupied  a  very  different  position 
from  those  of  the  nineteenth.  The  keys  of 
heaven  and  hell  they  might  still  hold,  but  the 
management  of  the  affairs  of  this  world  was 
taken  out  of  their  hands.  The  days  of  the 
autocrat  were  over! 


AN   OLD-TIME   MAGISTRATE. 


AN   OLD-TIME   MAGISTRATE. 

r  I  "HE  seventeenth  century  was  fortu- 
-^  nate  in  possessing  three  of  the  most 
princely  gossips  that  ever  lived,  —  Saint 
Simon  in  France,  the  immortal  Pepys  in 
England,  and  the  good  Judge  Sewall  in  Bos- 
ton. Each  of  these  men  wrote  down  from 
day  to  day,  apparently  for  his  own  use,  the 
occurrences  of  the  day,  —  the  details  of  the 
life  about  him ;  and  each  has  given  us  an 
incomparable  picture  of  the  world  in  which 
he  lived,  —  a  picture  which  no  historian,  biog- 
rapher, poet,  or  painter  could  have  equalled. 
And  they  have  painted  three  widely  differing 
worlds.  Nothing  could  better  illustrate  the 
differences  between  the  countries  they  repre- 
sent than  the  pages  of  these  old  diaries  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 
9  I29 


I3O  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

With  Saint  Simon  the  world  means  the 
Court  of  France,  and  the  problem  of  life  re- 
solves itself  into  a  question  of  precedence. 
The  privilege  of  being  present  at  the  petit 
lever  and  the  petit  coucher,  the  king's  get- 
ting up  and  the  king's  going  to  bed,  is  an 
honor  worth  any  amount  of  striving  and 
righting  and  fawning.  Life  has  no  higher 
reward  than  the  honor  of  being  chosen  to 
place  upon  the  sacred  body  of  majesty  the 
royal  shirt.  What  conflicts,  what  heart  burn- 
ings, what  cruel  disappointments,  what  bitter 
enmities  in  that  long  and  weary  struggle  over 
the  all-important  question  as  to  which  of  the 
peers  are  entitled  to  keep  their  hats  on  in 
the  king's  presence  !  Saint  Simon,  it  is  true, 
does  sometimes  take  a  look  at  the  busy, 
swarming  multitude  who  live  outside  the 
palace  of  Versailles,  but  only  as  a  man 
somewhat  interested  in  natural  history  might 
watch  with  curiosity  the  habits  of  the  animals 
which  were  created  for  his  comfort  and  sup- 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  131 

port.  There  is  enough  of  corruption  and  im- 
morality in  the  great  palace;  intrigue  and 
scandal  are  the  daily  food  of  this  nobility, 
so  proud  of  its  birth.  But  it  is  sin  with  its 
dress-coat  on,  taking  itself  seriously,  which  is 
almost  as  dull  and  uninteresting  as  virtue 
itself. 

In  the  pages  of  Pepys  we  still  have  some- 
thing of  the  Court;  but  it  is  no  longer  the 
Court  of  the  grand  monarch;  it  is  the  Court 
of  Charles  II.  and  Nell  Gwynne.  The  sub- 
ject of  life  is  no  longer  dignity,  but  pleasure. 
Pepys  tells  us  over  and  over  again  that  he 
had  a  "  mighty  good  time,"  that  it  was 
"  mighty  pleasant,"  that  he  and  his  friends 
were  "  mighty  merry  together."  There  is 
plenty  of  good  eating  and  drinking,  and 
sometimes  the  cheerful  record,  "  drunk  and 
so  to  bed."  There  are  actors  and  actresses, 
and  "  drunken,  roaring  courtiers."  There  are 
hundreds  of  interesting  people  who  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Court.  For  Pepys 


132  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

confesses  that  he  hobnobs  with  "tag,  rag,  and 
bobtail,"  and  often  spends  his  nights  in  danc- 
ing, singing,  and  drinking.  When  we  go  to 
the  play,  we  go  behind  the  scenes  and  joke 
and  carry  on  with  the  actress;  and  poor 
Pepys  sometimes  carries  this  so  far  that  his 
wife,  in  her  jealousy,  waves  the  tongs  over 
his  head,  and  threatens  a  beating.  Pepys,  in 
his  turn,  is  jealous,  and  has  been  known  to 
give  his  wife  a  black  eye.  But  we  must  not 
forget  that  in  spite  of  all  this  he  is  a  respec- 
table man,  occupying  a  prominent  public  po- 
sition. As  to  his  moral  standard,  he  thinks 
it  is  not  decent  to  be  more  honest  than  those 
around  him.  In  regard  to  his  taxes,  he  feels 
some  scruples  about  cheating,  but  fears  it 
would  "be  thought  vain  glory"  if  he  did 
differently  from  the  rest.  So,  rather  than 
appear  eccentric,  he  will  remain  a  thief.  He 
says  he  will  not  be  bribed  to  be  unjust,  but 
is  "  not  so  squeamish  as  to  refuse  a  present 
after."  There  is  immorality  enough  in  this 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  133 

world  of  Pepys;  but  it  wears  its  every-day 
clothes,  and  is  vastly  more  interesting  than 
the  stately  vice  which  solemnly  parades  itself 
in  the  pages  of  Saint  Simon. 

Turning  from  these  books  to  the  diary  of 
Judge  Sewall  is  like  turning  away  from  the 
footlights,  and  from  the  heavy,  unnatural  at- 
mosphere of  the  theatre,  to  come  out  into 
the  pure  air,  under  a  clear  sky.  For  a 
glimpse  of  his  moral  standpoint  as  compared 
with  theirs,  take  this  incident  which  the  judge 
records  with  pain:  "September  3d  1686  — 
Mr.  Shrimpton,  Captain  Lidget  and  others 
come  in  a  Coach  from  Roxbury  about  nine 
o'clock  or  past,  singing  as  they  come,  being 
inflamed  with  Drink.  At  Justice  Morgan's 
they  stop  and  drink  Healths,  curse,  swear, 
talk  profanely  and  baudily,  to  the  great  dis- 
turbance of  the  Town  and  grief  of  good 
people.  Such  high  handed  wickedness  has 
hardly  been  heard  of  before  in  Boston." 
There  we  have  the  worst  that  can  be  said 


134  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

of  Boston.  A  few  drunken  rowdies  riding 
through  the  streets  —  an  every-day  affair  in 
London  —  is  the  most  high-handed  wicked- 
ness this  Puritan  community  has  ever  known. 

The  diary  of  Judge  Sewall  fills  fodr  volumes 
of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society's  col- 
lection, and  is  a  storehouse  to  which  the  stu- 
dent must  always  go,  if  he  would  understand 
the  New  England  Puritan  of  the  second 
generation.  The  worthy  magistrate  little 
dreamed,  as  he  jotted  down  from  day  to  day 
the  doings  of  himself,  his  family,  and  his 
neighbors,  including  their  little  peculiarities 
and  peccadilloes,  that  he  was  bestowing  a 
boon  for  which  posterity  would  never  cease 
to  be  grateful. 

The  author  of  the  diary  was  Samuel 
Sewall,  a  resident  of  New  England  for  sev- 
enty years,  and,  for  a  great  part  of  that 
period,  one  of  her  magistrates.  His  father, 
Henry  Sewall,  "  out  of  dislike  to  the  English 
Hierarchy,"  came  to  this  country  in  1634; 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  135 

and  settled  in  Newbury.  He  married  there ; 
but  a  little  later,  when  the  rule  of  Cromwell 
made  England  more  tolerable  for  the  Puri- 
tans, he  returned  to  the  old  home.  Samuel 
was  born  at  Bishop  Stoke  in  1652.  The 
restoration  of  the  worst  of  the  Stuarts  —  King 
Charles  II.  —  brought  the  family  back  to 
New  England  in  1661,  when  Samuel  was 
nine  years  old.  After  five  years'  instruction 
from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Parker,  the  blind  preacher 
of  Newbury,  he  entered  Harvard  College  at 
the  age  of  fourteen.  The  college  was  still 
very  primitive.  The  tuition  was  paid  in 
produce ;  and  the  government  of  the  stu- 
dents was  strictly  paternal,  corporal  punish- 
ment being  by  no  means  uncommon.  Yet 
they  turned  out  good,  solid  men.  Unfortu- 
nately, Sewall's  diary  does  not  begin  until 
after  his  college  days.  After  graduation  he 
became  a  Resident  Fellow  of  the  college,  and 
was  keeper  of  the  library.  He  was  strongly 
inclined  to  the  ministry;  and  among  the  first 


136  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

entries  of  the  journal  it  is  frequently  set  down 
that  he  "  commonplaced,"  —  i.  e.,  delivered 
religious  discourses  to  the  students.  He  re- 
cords also  his  first  sermon,  when,  "  being 
afraid  to  look  on  the  glass,  he  ignorantly  and 
unwittingly  stood  two  hours  and  a  half." 
He  was  for  some  time  undecided  as  to  the 
choice  of  a  profession,  and  was  greatly  exer- 
cised with  regard  to  his  "  spiritual  estate." 
But  at  last  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  the  minis- 
try, and  settled  down  into  a  devout  and  con- 
scientious layman. 

We  get  curious  glimpses  into  the  Puritan 
habit  of  mind  from  the  pious  reflections  he 
was  wont  to  make  in  connection  with  the 
most  ordinary  and  trivial  events.  When  he 
fed  his  chickens,  he  reflected  on  his  own 
need  of  spiritual  food,  and  hoped  that  he 
should  not  nauseate  daily  duties  of  prayer, 
etc.  When  he  sat  down  to  a  solitary  dinner 
of  baked  pigeons,  he  prayed  that  he  might 
be  "  wise  as  a  Serpent  and  as  harmless  as  a 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  137 

Dove."  When  he  is  weighed,  he  prays  that 
"  the  Lord  may  add  or  take  away  from  our 
corporal  weight,  so  as  shall  be  most  advan- 
tageous for  our  spiritual  growth."  Feeling, 
on  the  Lord's  Day,  "  dull  and  heavy  and  list- 
less as  to  spiritual  Good;  Carnal,  Lifeless;" 
he  sighed  to  God  that  he  would  quicken  him. 
The  next  day,  when  his  house  is  broken  into 
and  twenty  pounds'  worth  of  silver  and  linen 
stolen,  he  regards  it  as  an  answer  to  his 
prayer,  because  he  was  helped  to  submit  to 
the  stroke.  When  the  thief  is  caught  and 
put  in  prison,  "  the  stroke  is  turned  into  a 
kiss  of  God." 

In  167!  Sewall  was  married  to  Hannah 
Hull,  daughter  of  Capt.  John  Hull  of  pine- 
tree  shilling  fame.  Mistress  Hannah  had 
been  present  at  Harvard  when  the  young,  stu- 
dent took  his  degree,  and  had  set  her  affec- 
tions on  him  at  that  time,  although  he  knew 
nothing  of  it  until  after  their  marriage,  two 
years  later.  The  diary  makes  no  mention  of 


138  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

the  marriage;  but  tradition  tells  us  that  the 
bride  was  valued  as  worth  her  weight  in  sil- 
ver, and  that  the  carefully  weighed  amount 
went  with  her  as  her  dowry.  Many  times 
was  the  husband  called  upon  to  stand  in  the 
Old  South  Church  and  offer  up  to  God  in 
baptism  a  tiny  morsel  of  humanity.  Some 
of  these  children  died  in  infancy;  but  others 
always  came  to  take  their  places,  "  so  that  by 
the  underserved  goodness  of  God,"  says  the 
father,  "  we  were  never  without  a  child." 
Fourteen  children  were  born  from  this  mar- 
riage; and  scattered  through  the  pages  of 
the  diary  are  quaint  pictures  of  the  solemn 
life  of  the  staid  little  Puritans.  The  father 
sadly  records:  "November  6,  1692.  Joseph 
threw  a  knop  of  brass  and  hit  his  Sister  Betty 
on  the  forhead  so  as  to  make  it  bleed  and 
swell;  upon  which,  and  for  his  playing  at 
Prayer-time,  and  eating  when  Return  Thanks, 
I  whipd  him  pretty  smartly.  When  I  first 
went  in  (call'd  by  his  Grandmother)  he  sought 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  139 

to  shadow  and  hide  himself  from  me  behind 
the  head  of  the  Cradle :  which  gave  me  the 
sorrowfull  remembrance  of  Adam's  carriage." 
Joseph,  at  this  time,  when  he  committed  the 
sin  of  eating  when  thanks  was  being  returned, 
and  playing  in  prayer  time,  was  four  years 
old. 

Poor  little  Betty's  troubles,  however,  were 
the  worst.  How  one's  heart  aches  for  the 
poor  little  tortured  soul !  Betty's  troubles 
began  when  she  was  only  eight  years  old, 
when  it  fell  to  her  share  to  read  in  family 
prayer  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  Isaiah 
with  its  dread  pictures  of  the  judgments  of 
God.  Betty  read  with  many  tears;  and  the 
contents  of  the  chapter,  and  sympathy  with 
her,  drew  tears  from  the  father  also.  When 
Betty  was  about  fifteen,  Judge  Sewall  came 
home  one  night  to  find  the  family  in  distress. 
"  She  had  given  some  signs  of  dejection  and 
sorrow;  but  a  little  after  diner  she  burst  out 
into  an  amazing  cry,  which  caused  all  the 


140  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

family  to  cry  too;  Her  Mother  asked  the 
reason ;  she  gave  none ;  at  last  she  said  she 
was  afraid  she  should  goe  to  Hell,  her  sins 
were  not  pardon'd.  She  was  first  wounded 
by  my  reading  a  Sermon  of  Mr.  Norton's 
about  the  5th  of  Jan.  Text  Jno.  7.34.  Ye 
shall  seek  me  and  shall  not  find  me.  And 
those  words  in  the  Sermon  Jno.  8.21.  Ye 
shall  seek  me  and  shall  die  in  your  sins,  ran 
in  her  mind,  and  terrified  her  greatly.  And 
staying  at  home  Jan.  12  she  read  out  of 
Mr.  Cotton  Mather  — Why  hath  Satan  filled 
thy  heart,  which  increas'd  her  Fear.  Her 
Mother  ask'd  her  whether  she  pray'd.  She 
answer'd  Yes ;  but  feared  her  prayers  were 
not  heard  because  her  Sins  not  pardon'd." 
The  pastor  was  sent  for  and  "  pray'd  excel- 
lently, but  without  effect." 

For  a  whole  week  the  child  had  been 
carrying  this  dreadful  fear  before  she  spoke 
of  it.  A  few  weeks  later  the  father  writes: 
"Feb.  22,  169! — Betty  comes  in  to  me 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  141 

almost  as  soon  as  I  was  up  and  tells  me  the 
disquiet  she  had  when  waked ;  told  me  was 
afraid  should  go  to  Hell,  was  like  Spira,  not 
Elected.  Ask'd  her  what  I  should  pray  for, 
she  said,  that  God  would  pardon  her  Sin  and 
give  her  a  new  heart.  I  answer'd  her  Fears 
as  well  as  I  could,  and  pray'd  with  many 
Tears  on  either  part;  hope  God  heard  us. 
I  gave  her  solemnly  to  God."  Two  months 
later  he  records  :  "  Betty  can  hardly  read  her 
chapter  from  weeping ;  tells  me  she  is  afraid 
she  is  gon  back,  does  not  taste  that  sweet- 
ness in  reading  the  Word  which  once  she 
did ;  fears  that  what  was  once  upon  her  is 
worn  off.  I  said  what  I  could  to  her  and  in 
the  evening  pray'd  with  her  alone."  Betty's 
fears  were  never  entirely  allayed.  This  ter- 
rible shadow  of  non-election  darkened  her 
life  even  after  she  was  married  and  had  chil- 
dren of  her  own.  On  the  day  of  her  death 
her  father  wrote  sadly:  "I  hope  God  has 
delivered  her  now  from  all  her  fears." 


142  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Little  Sam  also  had  his  doubts  and  fears. 
He  was  ten  years  old  when  a  playmate  died 
of  small-pox.  The  judge  thought  he  ought 
to  "  tell  Sam.  of  it  and  what  need  he  had  to 
prepare  for  Death,  and  therefore  to  endeavor 
really  to  pray  when  he  said  over  the  Lord's 
Prayer:  He  seemed  not  much  to  mind,  eat- 
ing an  Aple;  but  when  he  came  to  say,  Our 
father,  he  burst  out  into  a  bitter  Cry,  and 
when  I  ask't  what  was  the  matter  and  he 
could  speak,  he  burst  out  into  a  bitter  Cry 
and  said  he  was  afraid  he  should  die.  I 
pray'd  with  him,  and  read  Scriptures  com- 
forting against  death,  as,  O  death  where  is 
thy  sting  etc.  All  things  yours,  Life  and 
Immortality  brought  to  light  by  Christ  etc." 
Perhaps  Sam's  fears  were  heightened  by  the 
fact  that  his  father  had,  not  long  before,  cor- 
rected him  for  breach  of  the  ninth  command- 
ment,—  for  saying  he  had  been  at  the  writing 
school  when  he  had  not. 

Sewall  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  his 


Atf  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  143 

wife,  as  is  shown  by  an  entry  made  in  the  jour- 
nal many  years  after  his  marriage,  —  "Jan. 
24,  I/of.  .  .  .  Took  24  s.  in  my  pocket,  and 
gave  my  Wife  the  rest  of  my  cash  £4  3-8, 
and  tell  her  she  shall  now  keep  the  Cash ;  If 
I  want  I  will  borrow  of  her.  She  has  a  better 
faculty  than  I  at  managing  Affairs :  I  will 
assist  her;  and  will  endeavor  to  live  upon 
my  Salary;  will  see  what  it  will  doe.  The 
Lord  give  his  Blessing." 

Sewall  held  many  public  offices  after  he 
gave  up  the  ministry.  In  1678  he  was  one 
of  the  perambulators  of  bounds  for  Muddy 
River.  In  1681  he  was  appointed  to  under- 
take the  management  of  the  printing  press  in 
Boston.  He  was  one  of  a  committee  to  draw 
up  instructions  for  the  deputies.  In  1683  he 
was  chosen  one  of  the  seven  commissioners 
of  the  town  to  assess  rates.  In  the  same 
year  he  became  a  member  of  the  General 
Court,  —  /.<?.,  a  deputy.  Later  he  was  made 
a  magistrate. 


144  OLD    COLONY  DAYS. 

His  first  years  in  office  were  the  darkest 
years  in  New  England.  He  had  but  just 
been  made  deputy  when  the  king,  Charles  II., 
demanded  the  return  of  the  charter  from  the 
colony.  "  A  great  town  meeting  was  held  in 
the  old  South  Meeting  House,  and  the  mod- 
erator requested  all  who  were  for  surrender- 
ing the  charter  to  hold  up  their  hands.  Not 
a  hand  was  lifted,  and  out  from  the  throng 
a  solitary  voice  exclaimed,  with  deep  drawn 
breath,  '  The  Lord  be  praised  ! '  Then  arose 
Increase  Mather,  president  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege, and  reminded  them  how  their  fathers  did 
win  this  charter,  and  should  they  deliver  it 
up  into  the  spoiler  who  demanded  it  even  as 
Ahab  required  Naboth's  vineyard,  Oh !  their 
children  would  be  bound  to  curse  them." 
When  the  news  of  this  meeting  reached  Lon- 
don, the  charter  of  the  colony  was  at  once 
annulled.  The  loss  of  their  charter  meant 
much  to  these  men  of  Massachusetts.  It 
meant  not  only  that  they  could  no  longer 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  145 

elect  one  of  their  own  number  as  governor, 
but  that  they  must  be  ruled  by  whomsoever 
the  king  would  send  over;  it  meant  not  only 
that  the  foundations  were  taken  away  on 
which  all  their  institutions,  political  and  ec- 
clesiastical, rested  ;  it  meant  also  that  all  their 
lands  reverted  to  the  crown ;  that  the  land 
titles  of  individuals,  which  had  rested  on  the 
charter,  were  void ;  that  the  owners  could  no 
longer  hold  their  lands  except  by  paying  quit 
rent  to  the  king. 

There  is  little  of  definite  history  in  Sewall's 
record,  but  there  is  much  insight  into  the 
strained  relations  existing  between  the  new 
governor,  Andros,  and  the  people.  One 
cause  of  ill  will  was  his  appropriating  the 
Old  South  Meeting-House  for  the  service  of 
the  Church  of  England.  He  enjoyed  the 
joke  of  prolonging  his  services,  and  keeping 
the  humiliated  Puritans  outside  for  an  hour 
or  two  in  the  cold,  awaiting  their  turn.  This 
dispute  finally  led  to  the  building  of  King's 

10 


146  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Chapel,  —  the  first  Episcopal  church  in  New 
England. 

During  the  rule  of  Andros,  Sewall  made  a 
journey  to  London,  not  only  to  look  after 
property  there,  but  to  join  with  Increase 
Mather  and  others  of  the  colony  who  were 
there,  in  the  effort  to  obtain  a  restoration  of 
the  charter.  It  was  characteristic  that  before 
sailing  he  invited  his  friends  to  hold  a  day 
of  prayer  at  his  home.  "  Mr.  Williard  pray'd 
and  preached  excellently  from  Ps.  143.  10; 
pray'd.  Intermission.  Mr.  Allen  pray'd, 
then  Mr.  Moodey,  both  very  well,  then  3d~7th 
verses  of  the  86th  Ps.,  sung  Cambridge  short 
Tune,  which  I  set."  On  his  return  he  again 
invited  in  his  friends,  to  the  number  of 
twenty,  for  a  service  of  gratitude.  "  Mr. 
Cotton  Mather  returned  Thanks  in  an  excel- 
lent maner.  Sung  part  of  the  Six  and 
fifteth  Psalm.  I  set  it  to  Windsor  Tune." 

Just  as  Sewall  arrived  in  England,  he  was 
met  by  the  report  of  the  flight  of  James  II. 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  147 

and  the  landing  of  William  and  Mary.  When 
the  news  reached  Boston,  there  was  great  re- 
joicing. Bells  were  rung ;  guns  were  fired ; 
the  citizens  came  together  and  clapped  the 
obnoxious  governor  into  prison.  They  chose 
old  Simon  Bradstreet,  then  eighty-seven  years 
of  age,  to  be  their  governor  once  more. 
They  hoped  for  a  restoration  of  the  charter. 
But  William  and  Mary,  though  favorably  dis- 
posed toward  Massachusetts,  were  resolved 
to  govern  it  in  their  own  way.  The  new 
charter  was  very  different  from  the  old.  The 
governors  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  crown, 
instead  of  elected  by  the  people.  All  laws 
passed  by  the  legislature  were  to  be  sent  to 
England  for  royal  approval ;  and  the  fran- 
chise was  not  to  be  limited  to  church  mem- 
bers. Massachusetts  was  no  longer  a  colony. 
She  had  become  a  royal  province. 

Judge  Sewall  returned  to  Boston,  and  held 
office  under  the  new  regime  as  he  had  under 
the  old.  He  had  grave  and  troublous  prob- 


148  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

lems  to  study.  It  was  the  time  of  the  terrible 
witchcraft  excitement.  The  idea  that  certain 
people  had  sold  themselves  to  the  devil  and 
were  tormenting  their  neighbors  had  taken 
firm  hold  of  the  public  mind.  A  hundred 
persons  were  in  jail,  accused  of  witchcraft. 
The  governor,  Sir  William  Phipps,  appointed 
a  special  commission,  consisting  of  seven  men, 
to  try  these  cases.  Judge  Sewall  was  one  of 
the  seven.  By  their  decision  twenty  innocent 
people  were  put  to  death.  Then  came  the 
reaction.  The  eyes  of  magistrates  and  people 
were  opened.  They  saw  their  mistake.  A 
day  was  appointed  for  fasting  and 'prayer,  on 
account  of  what  might  have  been  done  amiss 
"  in  the  late  tragedy,  raised  among  us  by 
Satan  and  his  instruments,  through  the  awful 
judgment  of  God."  When  sickness  and  death 
came  into  Judge  Sewall's  family,  he  looked 
upon  it  as  a  direct  punishment  for  his  own 
part  in  this  miserable  matter.  He  winced 
when  Sam,  reciting  his  Latin  Scripture  les- 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  149 

son,  came  to  this  verse :  "  If  ye  had  known 
what  this  meaneth,  I  will  have  mercy  and  not 
sacrifice,  ye  would  not  have  condemned  the 
guiltless."  It  "  did  awfully  bring  to  mind  the 
Salem  Tragedie,"  he  says.  He  "  put  up  a 
bill"  for  public  prayers.  There  is  no  more 
impressive  and  solemn  moment  in  the  life  of 
Judge  Sewall  than  that  when  he  stood  up  in 
the  South  Meeting-House,  and  listened  with 
bowed  head  to  his  own  public  confession 
read  as  follows :  "  Samuel  Sewall,  sensible  of 
the  reiterated  strokes  of  God  upon  himself 
and  family;  and  being  sensible,  that  as  to  the 
Guilt  contracted  upon  the  opening  of  the  late 
Commission  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  at  Salem 
(to  which  the  order  for  this  Day  relates)  he  is, 
upon  many  accounts,  more  concerned  than 
any  that  he  knows  of,  Desires  to  take  the 
Blame  and  shame  of  it,  Asking  pardon  of 
men,  And  especially  desiring  prayers  that 
God,  who  has  an  Unlimited  Authority,  would 
pardon  that  sin  and  all  other  his  sins;  per- 


148  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

lems  to  study.  It  was  the  time  of  the  terrible 
witchcraft  excitement.  The  idea  that  certain 
people  had  sold  themselves  to  the  devil  and 
were  tormenting  their  neighbors  had  taken 
firm  hold  of  the  public  mind.  A  hundred 
persons  were  in  jail,  accused  of  witchcraft. 
The  governor,  Sir  William  Phipps,  appointed 
a  special  commission,  consisting  of  seven  men, 
to  try  these  cases.  Judge  Sevvall  was  one  of 
the  seven.  By  their  decision  twenty  innocent 
people  were  put  to  death.  Then  came  the 
reaction.  The  eyes  of  magistrates  and  people 
were  opened.  They  saw  their  mistake.  A 
day  was  appointed  for  fasting  and 'prayer,  on 
account  of  what  might  have  been  done  amiss 
"  in  the  late  tragedy,  raised  among  us  by 
Satan  and  his  instruments,  through  the  awful 
judgment  of  God."  When  sickness  and  death 
came  into  Judge  Sewall's  family,  he  looked 
upon  it  as  a  direct  punishment  for  his  own 
part  in  this  miserable  matter.  He  winced 
when  Sam,  reciting  his  Latin  Scripture  les- 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  149 

son,  came  to  this  verse :  "  If  ye  had  known 
what  this  meaneth,  I  will  have  mercy  and  not 
sacrifice,  ye  would  not  have  condemned  the 
guiltless."  It  "  did  awfully  bring  to  mind  the 
Salem  Tragedie,"  he  says.  He  "  put  up  a 
bill "  for  public  prayers.  There  is  no  more 
impressive  and  solemn  moment  in  the  life  of 
Judge  Sewall  than  that  when  he  stood  up  in 
the  South  Meeting-House,  and  listened  with 
bowed  head  to  his  own  public  confession 
read  as  follows :  "  Samuel  Sewall,  sensible  of 
the  reiterated  strokes  of  God  upon  himself 
and  family;  and  being  sensible,  that  as  to  the 
Guilt  contracted  upon  the  opening  of  the  late 
Commission  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  at  Salem 
(to  which  the  order  for  this  Day  relates)  he  is, 
upon  many  accounts,  more  concerned  than 
any  that  he  knows  of,  Desires  to  take  the 
Blame  and  shame  of  it,  Asking  pardon  of 
men,  And  especially  desiring  prayers  that 
God,  who  has  an  Unlimited  Authority,  would 
pardon  that  sin  and  all  other  his  sins;  per- 


150  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

sonal  and  Relative :  And  according  to  his 
infinite  Benignity  and  Sovereignty,  Not  Visit 
the  sin  of  him,  or  of  any  other,  upon  himself 
or  any  of  his,  nor  upon  the  Land :  But  that 
He  would  powerfully  defend  him  against  all 
Temptations  to  Sin,  for  the  future ;  and 
vouchsafe  him  the  efficacious,  saving  Con- 
duct of  his  Word  and  Spirit." 

None  of  Sewall's  associates  in  the  unhappy 
business  followed  his  example  in  doing  pen- 
ance publicly.  When  the  chief  judge  of  the 
witch  trials,  Lieutenant-Governor  Stoughton, 
heard  of  it,  he  said  he  had  no  such  confes- 
sion to  make,  as  he  had  acted  according  to 
the  besrlight  God  had  given  him. 

Sewall's  repentance  did  not  end  with  this 
public  confession  and  humiliation.  Tradi- 
tion tells  us  that  every  year,  for  forty  years, 
he  set  aside  a  day  for  prayer  and  fasting,  in 
remembrance  of  this  greatest  mistake  of  his 
life.  Whittier  has  preserved  this  tradition  in 
his  beautiful  ballad :  — 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  151 

"  Touching  and  sad,  a  tale  is  told, 
Like  a  penitent  hymn  of  the  Psalmist  old, 
Of  the  fast  which  the  good  man  lifelong  kept 
With  a  haunting  sorrow  that  never  slept. 

All  the  day  long  from  dawn  to  dawn, 
His  door  was  bolted,  his  curtain  drawn ; 
No  foot  on  his  silent  threshold  trod, 
No  eye  looked  on  him  save  that  of  God, 
As  he  baffled  the  ghosts  of  the  dead  with  charms 
Of  penitent  tears,  and  prayers,  and  psalms, 
And,  with  precious  proofs  from  the  sacred  word 
Of  the  boundless  pity  and  love  of  the  Lord, 
His  faith  confirmed  and  his  trust  renewed 
That  the  sin  of  his  ignorance,  sorely  rued, 
Might  be  washed  away  in  the  mingled  flood 
Of  his  human  sorrow  and  Christ's  dear  blood  ! " 

Whether  he  kept  this  anniversary  or  not, 
fasts  were  not  infrequent  with  Judge  Sewall. 
Public  fasts  were  appointed,  and  these  he  re- 
ligiously kept.  He  was  often  invited  to  the 
houses  of  his  friends  to  observe  a  fast  with 
them,  and  he  frequently  entertained  them  in 
the  same  way.  In  addition  he  had  his  own 
private  fasts.  When  affliction  visited  him, 
when  he  had  some  question  to  decide,  or 


152  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

when  he  was  about  to  engage  in  some  under- 
taking on  which  he  desired  the  blessing  of 
the  Lord,  he  spent  a  day  in  prayer  and  fast- 
ing. This  was  not  done  for  the  approval  of 
others.  The  only  account  of  it  is  in  his 
diary,  written  for  his  eyes  alone.  None  but 
his  family  knew  when  he  withdrew  into  his 
own  room,  closed  the  curtains,  shut  out  the 
world,  and  spent  the  long  day  in  communion 
with  his  God. 

In  his  quaint,  methodical  way  he  some- 
times entered  in  his  journal  a  list  of  the  sub- 
jects which  he  presented  to  the  Lord  in 
prayer.  "February  9;  I7o|-  The  Apoint- 
ment  of  a  Judge  for  the  Super.  Court  being 
to  be  made  upon  next  Fifth  day,  Febr.  12, 
I  pray'd  God  to  Accept  me  in  keeping  a 
privat  day  of  Prayer  with  fasting  for  That 
and  other  Important  Matters :  I  kept  it 
upon  the  Third  day  Febr.  10,  170!  in  the 
uper  Chamber  at  the  North  East  end  of 
the  House,  fastening  the  Shutters  next  the 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  153 

Street. —  Perfect  what  is  lacking  in  my  Faith 
and  in  the  faith  of  my  dear  Yoke-fellow. 
Convert  my  children ;  especially  Samuel  and 
Hanah ;  Provide  rest  and  Settlement  for 
Hanah :  Recover  Mary,  Save  Judith,  Elisa- 
beth and  Joseph;  Requite  the  Labour  of 
Love  of  my  Kinswoman  Jane  Tappin,  Give 
her  health,  find  out  Rest  for  her.  Make 
David  a  man  after  thy  own  heart,  Let  Susan 
live  and  be  baptised  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  with  fire.  Relations.  Steer  the  Govern- 
ment in  this  difficult  time,  when  the  Gover- 
nour  and  many  others  are  at  so  much 
Variance :  Direct,  incline,  overrule  on  the 
Council-day  fifth  day,  Febr.  12,  as  to  the 
special  Work  of  it  in  filling  the  Super.  Court 
with  Justices ;  or  any  other  thing  of  like 
nature;  as  Plirn0  infer  Court.  Bless  the 
Company  for  propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
especially  Govr  Ashurst  &c.  Revive  the 
Business  of  Religion  at  Natick,  and  accept 
and  bless  John  Neesnumin  who  went  thither 


154  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

last  week  for  that  end.  Mr.  Rawson  at  Nan- 
tucket.  Bless  the  South  Church  in  preserv- 
ing and  spiriting  our  Pastor;  in  directing 
unto  suitable  Supply,  and  making  the  Church 
unanimous :  Save  the  Town,  College ;  Prov- 
ince from  Invasion  of  Enemies,  open,  Secret, 
and  from  false  Brethern :  Defend  the  Purity 
of  Worship.  Save  Connecticut,  bless  their 
new  Governour:  Save  the  Reformation  under 
N.  York  Governm1.  Reform  all  the  Euro- 
pean Plantations  in  America;  Spanish,  Portu- 
guese, English,  French,  Dutch ;  Save  this 
New  World,  that  where  Sin  hath  abounded, 
Grace  may  Superabound ;  that  CHRIST  who 
is  stronger,  would  bind  the  strong  man 
and  spoil  his  house ;  and  order  the  Word 
to  be  given,  Babylon  is  fallen.  — -  Save  our 
Queen,  lengthen  out  her  Life  and  Reign. 
Save  France,  make  the  Proud  helper  stoop 
(Job  IX  13),  Save  all  Europe;  Save  Asia, 
Africa,  Europe  and  America.  These  were 
gen'l  heads  of  my  Meditation  and  prayer; 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  155 

and  through  the  bounteous  Grace  of  GOD,  I 
had  a  very  Comfortable  day  of  it."  The 
prayer  of  the  Puritan  has  been  compared 
to  the  newspaper  of  to-day.  It  left  out  noth- 
ing. The  atmosphere  of  prayer  is  constantly 
present  throughout  his  life.  "  There  was  no 
variance  or  break,  no  stagnation  or  ebb  in 
his  religious  life.  This  was  continuous  and 
uniform,  in  his  closet,  his  family  circle,  the 
church,  the  court  room,  in  college  business, 
the  council  chamber,  the  town  meeting  and 
the  school  visitation." 

He  dwelt  upon  the  thought  that  in  the 
midst  of  life  we  are  in  death.  The  subject 
of  death  was  never  far  distant  from  his 
thoughts.  Tombs  and  graves  had  a  fascina- 
tion for  him.  He  tells  that  in  visiting  the 
family  tomb  he  was  "  entertained "  by  the 
coffins  of  his  "Father  and  Mother  Hull,"  and 
of  his  six  children.  He  says,  "Twas  an  awful 
yet  pleasing  treat."  His  greatest  dissipation 
was  funerals.  As  we  follow  the  long  proces- 


1 56  OLD   COLONY  DA  VS. 

sion  of  dead  Bostonians  whom  he  helped  to 
lay  away,  we  almost  get  the  impression  that 
he  was  a  professional  mourner.  He  was  in 
great  demand  as  a  "  Bearer,"  and  found  a 
dignified  pleasure  in  leading  the  solemn  fu- 
neral processions  through  the  crooked  Bos- 
ton streets.  He  carefully  records,  each  time, 
whether  he  let  down  the  head  or  the  feet  into 
the  grave.  He  usually  had  some  kind  word 
to  say  of  the  departed ;  but  of  one  poor 
wight  he  records  that  "  he  lived  undesired 
and  died  unlamented." 

These  funerals  had  their  perquisites.  It 
was  customary  to  send  gloves  to  all  who 
were  to  attend,  and  "  scarves "  or  rings 
(sometimes  both)  to  the  bearers.  The  num- 
ber of  scarves,  rings,  and  gloves  set  down  in 
Sewall's  diary  would  foot  up  an  enormous 
total.  It  is  related  of  Dr.  Samuel  Buxton, 
of  Salem,  who  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one, 
that  he  left  to  his  heirs  "  a  quart  tankard  full 
of  mourning  rings  which  he  had  received  at 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  157 

funerals."  One  would  think  Judge  Sewall's 
heirs  must  have  at  least  a  bucket  full  of  these 
relics.  And  of  gloves  and  scarves  he  must 
certainly  have  left  barrels,  unless,  like  the 
Rev.  Andrew  Eliot,  he  disposed  of  them  in 
his  lifetime.  This  prudent  clergyman  re- 
ceived, in  thirty-two  years,  from  funerals, 
weddings,  and  christenings,  two  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  forty  pairs  of  gloves.  As 
he  and  his  family  could  not  wear  them  all,  he 
sold  them  through  the  Boston  milliners,  and 
received  therefor  between  six  and  seven  hun- 
dred dollars.  The  quality  of  the  gloves  was 
proportioned  to  the  rank  of  the  wearer. 

We  are  not  to  think  that  there  were  no 
diversions  except  funerals.  There  was  feast- 
ing as  well  as  fasting,  rejoicing  as  well  as 
mourning.  There  was  plenty  of  good  eating 
and  drinking.  We  can  almost  smell  and  taste 
the  savory  food  on  the  Sewall  table.  The 
days  of  short  commons  among  the  Puritans 
were  over.  After  the  birth  of  her  fourteenth 


158  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

child  Madam  Sewall  gave  a  dinner  to  the 
various  professional  nurses  whom  she  had 
had  occasion  to  employ  in  past  years,  to  the 
number  of  seventeen.  It  was  a  gathering 
one  would  like  to  have  seen.  "  Had  a  good 
Dinner,  Boil'd  Pork,  Beef,  Fowls ;  very  good 
Rost  Beef,  Turkey-Pye,  Tarts." 

Although  feasting,  fasting,  and  funerals 
occupy  so  large  a  place  in  the  judge's  jour- 
nal, they  were  not  the  serious  occupation  of 
his  life.  He  had  many  duties,  and  held 
many  positions  of  trust.  He  was  deputy- 
councillor,  judge,  selectman,  moderator,  over- 
seer of  the  poor,  commissioner  of  the  Society 
for  Propagating  the  Gospel  among  the  In- 
dians, and  Captain  of  the  Ancient  and  Hon- 
orable Artillery  Company.  In  1699  he  was 
made  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court;  in  1717, 
Judge  of  Probate,  and  in  1718,  Chief-Justice. 

The  office  of  judge  was  not  a  sinecure.  It 
involved  holding  court  in  Cambridge,  Plym- 
outh, Dedham,  Salem,  and  other  towns,  in 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  159 

all  kinds  of  weather.  It  involved  frequent 
journeys,  usually  on  horseback,  —  journeys 
that  were  difficult,  uncomfortable,  and  often 
dangerous.  They  had  to  travel  "  on  .rough 
roads,  across  ferries,  often  of  icy  waters,  over 
marshes  and  inner  seas."  He  often  mentions 
that  in  crossing  a  stream  his  horse  fell  under 
him ;  and  more  than  one  party  travelling 
from  Cambridge  or  Charlestown  to  Boston 
barely  escaped  drowning.  The  court  itself 
was  a  solemn  affair.  There  were  grave  and 
weighty  decisions  to  be  made.  Sins  of  Sab- 
bath breaking,  lying,  and  drunkenness  had  to 
be  punished.  After  a  disturbance  in  North's 
tavern,  Mr.  Thomas  Banister,  Jr.,  is  fined  "  20 
shillings  for  Lying;  5  shillings  for  Curse,  icxr. 
Breach  of  the  peace  for  throwing  the  pots 
and  scale-box  at  the  maid  and  was  bound  to 
his  good  behavior  till  next  sessions."  When 
an  offender  was  sentenced  to  prison  or  to 
the  stocks,  pillory,  or  whipping-post,  he  was 
gravely  admonished  and  reproved  by  the 


1 60  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

judges.  A  "  woman  that  had  whip'd  a  man  " 
was  sentenced  to  be  whipped;  and  Judge 
Sewall  informed  her  that  a  "  woman  that  had 
lost  her  modesty,  was  like  Salt  that  had  lost 
its  savor ;  good  for  nothing  but  to  be  cast  to 
the  Dunghill." 

The  unlucky  wights  who  sought  to  intro- 
duce dancing  into  the  colony  were  rigidly 
suppressed.  "  Mr.  Francis  Stepney,  the  Danc- 
ing Master,  desired  a  Jury,  so  he  and  Mr. 
Shrimpton  Bound  in  £50  to  January  Court. 
Said  Stepney  is  ordered  not  to  keep  a  Danc- 
ing School ;  if  he  does  will  be  taken  in  con- 
tempt and  be  proceeded  with  accordingly." 
A  man  who  was  "  Setting  a  room  in  his  House 
for  a  man  to  shew  Tricks  in  "  was  dealt  with 
in  a  different  manner.  The  magistrates  went 
to  his  house,  prayed  with  him,  expostulated 
with  him,  and  sang  the  ninetieth  psalm  from 
the  twelfth  verse  to  the  end.  The  treatment 
seems  to  have  been  effectual.  The  coming  of 
the  royal  governors  and  the  royal  officers  and 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  l6l 

soldiers  of  their  train  had  brought  into  the 
sober  Puritan  town  habits  and  customs  it  had 
never  known  before ;  and  the  judges  jealously 
watched  these  encroachments,  and  passed 
severe  sentence  against  them  when  possible. 

They  had  also  other  and  graver  sins  to 
deal  with.  Since  there  were  ten  crimes  that 
were  capital  in  Massachusetts,  sometimes  the 
death  sentence  had  to  be  passed.  A  hang- 
ing was  an  affair  of  the  greatest  interest.  As 
much  publicity  as  possible  was  given  it  for 
the  sake  of  example.  On  the  Sunday  or 
the  lecture-day  before  the  execution  the  con- 
demned person  was  brought  in  chains  to  the 
church,  and  seated  in  a  conspicuous  place, 
to  listen  to  a  sermon  on  his  crime.  No  one 
failed  to  be  at  church  on  that  day ;  and  these 
improving  discourses  were  printed  and  sold 
in  great  numbers.  The  whole  community 
made  it  a  point  to  be  in  at  the  death.  Even 
a  kindly  man  like  Judge  Sewall  never  stayed 
away  from  a  hanging. 
ii 


1 62  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

We  have  related  Sewall's  weakness  in  re- 
gard to  the  subject  of  witchcraft.  We  must 
not  fail  to  credit  him  with  being  ahead  of  his 
age  on  three  other  questions  which  are  still 
of  the  greatest  interest  to  us,  —  the  slavery 
question,  the  Indian  question,  and  the  woman 
question.  Slavery  still  existed  in  New  Eng- 
land; and  to  Sewall  belongs  the  honor  of 
publishing  the  first  anti-slavery  /tract  in 
America.  It  was  entitled,  "^The  Selling  of 
Joseph ; "  and  in  it  he  prays  for  the  rights 
of  the  black  man,  and  answers  all  the  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  slavery.  On  the  Indian 
question  he  also  took  advanced  ground,  and 
labored  faithfully  and  earnestly  all  his  life 
long  for  the  education  of  this  unfortunate 
race.  On  the  woman  question  he  wrote  the 
treatise  called  "Talitha  Cumi,"  in  which 
he  pleads  for  women  as  joint  heirs  of  the 
heavenly  mansions,  and  argues  learnedly 
that  women  will  undoubtedly  be  found  in 
heaven. 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  163 

Among  other  books  that  Sewall  wrote 
there  were  two  on  America,  in  the  second 
of  which  he  considers  it  scripturally  as  the 
future  earthly  paradise.  He  spent  many 
years  of  loving  labor  on  the  two  bulky  vol- 
umes with  the  appalling  title  of  "  Phenomena 
Quaedam  Apocalyptica,"  which  deal  with  the 
fulfilment  of  prophecies.  Nor  did  he  dis- 
dain verse.  He  sometimes  records  the  mak- 
ing of  a  couplet  as  he  lies  in  bed  in  the 
morning.  Here  is  one  of  these  morning 
productions :  — 

"To  Horses,  Swine,  Net-Cattell,  Sheep  and  Deer, 
Ninety  and  Seven  prov'd  a  Mortal  yeer." 

A  fair  sample  of  his  poetry  is  this  hymn  on 
the  opening  of  the  new  century,  which  he 
had  the  bellman  recite  through  the  town  on 
New  Year's  Day :  — 

"  Once  more  !   our  God  vouchsafe  to  shine: 
Correct  the  Coldness  of  our  Clime. 
Make  haste  with  thy  Impartial  Light, 
And  terminate  this  long  dark  night. 


1 64  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

"  Give  the  poor  Indians  Eyes  to  see 
The  Light  of  Life  :  and  set  them  free. 
So  Men  shall  God  in  Christ  adore, 
And  worship  Idols  vain,  no  more. 

"  So  Asia,  and  Africa, 
Europa,  with  America ; 
All  Four,  in  Consort  join'd  shall  Sing 
New  Songs  of  Praise  to  Christ  our  King." 

On  the  occasion  of  a  funeral  at  which  two 
other  bearers  had  the  name  of  Samuel,  two 
were  called  John,  and  one  Thomas,  Sewall 
made  the  following  couplet,  and  esteemed  it 
worthy  of  record  :  — 

"  Three  Sams,  two  Johns,  and  one  good  Tom 
Bore  Prudent  Mary  to  her  Tomb." 

The  judge  was  a  musician  as  well  as  a 
poet,  and  for  twenty-four  years  he  "  set  the 
tunes"  in  the  Old  South  Church.  He  led 
them  triumphantly  through  the  "  Bay  Psalm 
Book  "  many  times  in  course ;  and  when  he 
set  the  psalm  well,  he  recorded  the  fact  with 
pride.  In  one  respect  he  was  a  model  for 
modern  musicians.  When  his  musical  talent 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  165 

began  to  fail  him,  he  was  the  first  to  notice 
it.  When  he  intended  Windsor  and  fell  into 
High  Dutch,  and  then,  essaying  to  set  an- 
other tune,  went  into  a  key  much  too  high, 
he  said,  "  The  Lord  humble  me  and  instruct 
me  that  I  should  be  the  occasion  of  any 
interruption  in  the  worship  of  God."  When 
it  happened  that  twice  within  three  weeks  he 
set  York  Tune,  and  the  congregation  carried 
it  over  into  Saint  David's,  he  took  it  as  a 
sign  that  he  ought  to  resign  the  precentor's 
place.  "  I  have  through  the  divine  Long- 
suffering  and  Favour  done  it  for  24.  years, 
and  now  God  by  his  Providence  seems  to 
call  me  off;  my  voice  being  enfeebled."  He 
persisted  in  giving  up  this  pleasant  task, 
though  urged  to  continue. 

Of  the  judge's  genial  and  kindly  side  we 
have  many  glimpses.  His  pockets  seem  to 
have  been  always  filled  with  sermons,  trink- 
ets, fruits,  and  goodies.  He  scarcely  ever 
made  a  call  without  leaving  behind  him  a 


1 66  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

box  of  "  Chocolatt,  Marmalad  or  Figgs," 
accompanied  by  a  tract.  He  records  in 
one  day  the  giving  away  of  the  "  Jews  in 
Berlin,"  "God's  All-Sufficiency,"  "Cooper's 
Sermons,"  "Vincent's  Catechism,"  and  forty 
shillings.  Cotton  Mather's  sermons  he  sowed 
broadcast  among  his  friends. 

The  judge  was  also  stubbornly  conscien- 
tious, and  in  following  his  line  of  duty  often 
ran  counter  to  the  opinions  of  others  and 
incurred  their  ill-will.  The  Rev.  Cotton 
Mather  rushed  upon  him  one  day  in  a 
public  place,  and  declared  in  a  loud  voice 
that  he  had  used  his  father  worse  than  a 
"  neger."  On  the  next  page  of  the  journal 
we  find  the  entry :  "  Sent  Mr.  Increase 
Mather  a  haunch  of  Venison.  In  that  I 
hope  I  did  not  treat  him  as  a  negro."  His 
pastor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pemberton,  became 
offended  at  Sewall  and  the  rest  of  the  judges, 
and  in  church  gave  out  the  first  five  verses 
of  the  fifty-eighth  psalm  to  be  sung :  — 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  16? 

"  Speak,  O  ye  judges  of  the  Earth  if  just  your  Sen- 
tence be : 

Or  must  not  Innocence  appeal  to  Heaven  from  your 
Decree  ? 

"Your  wicked  hearts  and  Judgements  are  alike  by 

malice  sway'd  ; 

Your  griping  Hands,  by  weighty  Bribes,  to  Violence 
betrayed." 

Sewall  writes  in  his  diary:  "  I  think  if  I  had 
been  in  his  place  and  had  been  kindly  and 
tenderly  affectioned,  I  should  not  have  done 
it  at  this  time.  Another  Psalm  might  have 
suited  his  Subject  as  well." 

There  was  one  subject,  however,  upon 
which  Sewall  could  not  be  charitable;  this 
was  the  wearing  of  periwigs.  He  fought  a 
life-long  battle  against  this  ungodly  fashion 
which  was  creeping  into  New  England. 
When  we  come  upon  the  entry,  "  This  day 
I  wore  my  black  skull  cap  in  meeting,"  it 
seems  an  unimportant  act,  but  it  was  in  real- 
ity a  manifesto.  His  hair  was  getting  thin  ; 
and  when  all  the  heads  about  him  were  cov- 


1 68  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

ered  with  flowing  periwigs,  he  covered  his 
with  a  black  skull-cap,  which  he  wore  until 
his  death.  When  any  of  his  friends  adopted 
the  obnoxious  fashion,  he  remonstrated  with 
them  earnestly.  "  Mention  the  words  of  our 
Saviour,  Can  ye  not  make  one  hair  white  or 
black."  He  records  with  almost  cruel  satis- 
faction the  miserable  death  of  a  wigmaker. 
When  Josiah  Williard  appeared  in  a  wig, 
Sewall  went  to  him  and  labored  with  him. 
"  I  enquired  of  him  what  Extremity  had 
forced  him  to  put  off  his  own  hair  and  put 
on  a  Wigg?  He  answered  none  at  all.  But 
said  that  his  Hair  was  streight  and  that  it 
parted  behinde.  Seem'd  to  argue  that  men 
might  as  well  shave  their  hair  off  their  head, 
as  off  their  face.  I  answered  men  were  men 
before  they  had  hair  on  their  faces,  (half 
of  mankind  have  never  any).  God  seems  to 
have  ordain'd  our  Hair  as  a  Test,  to  see 
whether  we  can  bring  our  minds  to  be  con- 
tent to  be  at  his  finding :  or  whether  we  would 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  169 

be  our  own  Carvers,  Lords,  and  come  no 
more  at  Him."  Josiah  promised  to  leave  off 
his  wig  when  his  hair  was  grown,  but  he 
seems  to  have  forgotten  his  promise,  for  he 
was  still  wearing  it  six  months  later;  and 
when  he  was  to  preach  in  the  Old  South, 
Sewall  absented  himself  and  attended  another 
church  rather  than  see  the  hated  wig  in  the 
pulpit.  In  summing  up  the  character  of  a 
man  who  had  died,  he  says  :  "  A  rare  instance 
of  Piety,  Health,  Strength,  Serviceableness. 
The  Wellfare  of  the  Province  was  much  upon 
his  Spirit.  He  abominated  Perriwigs." 

We  can  imagine  the  judge's  feelings  when 
the  Rev.  Cotton  Mather  preached  a  sermon 
in  defence  of  periwigs.  "  Said  one  sign  of 
a  hypocrit  was  for  a  man  to  strain  at  a  Gnat 
and  swallow  a  Camel.  Sign  in  's  Throat  dis- 
covered him ;  To  be  zealous  against  an  ino- 
cent  fashion  taken  up  and  used  by  the  best 
of  men ;  and  yet  make  no  conscience  of 
being  guilty  of  great  Immoralities.  ...  I 


1 70  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

expected  not  to  hear  a  vindication  of  Perri- 
wiggs  in  Boston  Pulpit  by  Mr.  Mather ;  how- 
ever, not  from  that  Text.  The  Lord  give  me 
a  good  Heart  and  help  to  know,  and  not 
only  to  know  but  also  to  doe  his  Will ;  that 
my  Heart  and  Head  may  be  his."  The 
senseless  fashion,  however,  continually  gained 
ground,  and  Sewall  was  left  almost  alone  in 
his  opposition. 

In  1717,  after  forty-four  years  of  married 
life,  Sewall  lost  his  wife.  She  had  proved 
herself  to  be  worth  far  more  than  her  weight 
in  silver  to  him,  and  her  husband  mourned 
her  sincerely. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected,  however,  that 
he  would  remain  single.  Although  he  was 
sixty-six  years  old,  his  friends  began  at  once 
to  look  about  to  find  a  suitable  match  for  him. 
In  a  few  weeks  he  himself  began  to  "  take 
notice "  of  the  various  widows  about  him. 
The  elder  Mr.  Weller  had  not  yet  given  his 
famous  advice  to  "  bevare  of  vidders ; "  nor 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  17 1 

would  it  have  been  of  any  use  in  that  commu- 
nity. "Godly  old  maids,"  like  Mary  Carpenter, 
were  a  rare  commodity.  It  was  widows  or 
nothing.  Boston  had  not  yet  become  what 
Theodore  Parker  called  it  later,  the  "  Para- 
dise of  old  Maids."  Sewall  began  to  note 
the  comings  and  goings  of  Madam  Katherine 
Winthrop,  whose  'husband  had  died  soon 
after  Mrs.  Sewall.  It  is  just  four  months 
after  the  death  of  his  wife  that  we  find  the 
entry  in  the  diary,  February  6,  "  This  morn- 
ing wandering  in  my  mind  whether  to  live  a 
Single  or  a  Married  Life."  He  had  already 
sent  Madam  Winthrop  "  Smoking  Flax  in- 
flamed, the  Jewish  children  of  Berlin,  and 
my  small  vial  of  Tears."  All  of  his  friends 
approved  his  choice,  and  things  seemed  to 
be  going  well,  when  suddenly  his  friend,  Mr. 
Denison,  died,  and  the  judge  turned  his  eyes 
to  the  Widow  Denison.  To  tell  the  truth, 
he  accompanied  her  home  from  the  funeral, 
and  prayed  God  to  keep  house  with  the 


OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 


widow.  She  came  to  his  house  to  prove  the 
will,  and  he  gave  her  a  "  Widows  Book 
Bound,  having  writ  her  Name  in  it."  On  her 
next  visit  he  took  her  up  into  his  chamber, 
and  "  discoursed  thorowly  with  her  ;  .  .  . 
told  her  I  intended  to  visit  her  at  her  own 
house  next  Lecture  day.  She  said,  twoul'd 
be  talk'd  of.  I  answered,  In  such  Cases, 
persons  must  run  the  Gantlet."  On  next 
lecture-day  he  kept  his  word.  He  gave  her 
Dr.  Mather's  sermons  bound,  and  she  gave 
him  very  good  curds.  On  his  next  visit  she 
invited  him  to  eat.  He  gave  her  "  two  Cases 
with  a  knife  and  fork  in  each  ;  one  Turtle 
shell  tackling;  the  other  long  with  Ivory  han- 
dles, Squar'd,  cost  4s.  6d.  ;  Pound  of  Raisins 
with  proportionable  Almonds."  Later  he 
gave  her  a  Psalm-book  bound  with  leather, 
and  a  pair  of  shoe-buckles  ;  cost  5^.  $d.  At 
last  he  told  her  he  thought  it  was  time  to 
finish  the  business.  But  when  they  came 
to  the  very  delicate  question  of  settlements, 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  173 

they  could  not  agree.  Mr.  Denison  had  left 
his  widow  very  well  to  do,  and  she  thought 
it  hard  to  "  give  up  a  certainty  for  an  uncer- 
tainty." The  more  they  discussed  the  sub- 
ject, the  less  they  agreed.  Neither  would 
yield  ;  and  the  judge  wrote,  "  My  bowels 
yern  towards  Mrs.  Denison,  but  I  think  God 
directs  me  in  his  providence  to  desist."  She 
came  once  more  to  see  him,  on  foot  from 
Roxbury,  on  a  cold  night,  to  try  to  patch  the 
matter  up ;  but  no  result  was  reached.  She 
offered  to  give  back  his  presents,  but  the 
elderly  lover  bade  her  keep  them,  "  only  now 
they  had  not  the  same  signification  as  before. 
She  went  away  in  the  bitter  Cold,  no  Moon 
being  up,  to  my  great  pain.  I  Saluted  her 
at  parting." 

He  next  visited  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Tilly; 
and  here  is  the  record  of  one  week,  in  the 
diary :  — 

SEPTEMBER  16,  After  the  Meeting  I  visited  Mrs. 
Tilly. 


1/4  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

SEPTEMBER  18,    ditto. 

SEPTEMBER  21,  I  gave  Mrs.  Tilly  a  little  booke 
entitled  "Ornaments  for  the  daughters  of  Sion."  I 
gave  it  to  my  dear  Wife  August  28  1 702. 

SEPTEMBER  23,  24,  eat  Almonds  and  Reasons  with 
Mrs.  Tilly  and  Mrs.  Armitage  ;  Discoursed  with  Mrs. 
Armitage,  who  spake  very  agreeably,  and  said  Mrs. 
Tilly  had  been  a  great  Blessing  to  them  hop'd  God 
would  make  her  so  to  me  and  my  family. 

SEPTEMBER  25,     Visited  Mrs.  Tilly. 

The  matter  was  soon  settled.  Two  weeks 
later  the  banns  were  published,  and  in  an- 
other two  weeks  they  were  married.  Sewall's 
son,  the  Reverend  Joseph,  who  was  the  apple 
of  his  eye,  performed  the  ceremony  "  in  the 
best  room  below  stairs.  Mr.  Prince  pray'd 
the  2d  time.  Mr.  Adams  the  Minister  of 
Newington  was  there,  Mr.  Oliver  and  Mr. 
Tim0  Clark  Justices,  and  many  more.  Sung 
the  12,  13,  14,  15,  and  16,  verses  of  the  cpth 
Psalm.  Cous.  S  Sewall  set  Low-dutch  Tune 
in  a  very  good  Key,  which  made  the  Singing 
with  a  good  number  of  Voices  very  agree- 
able. Distributed  Cake."  The  next  day 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  175 

the  governor  and  his  lady,  the  ex-governor, 
councillors,  and  ministers  in  town,  with  their 
wives,  dined  with  them. 

The  judge's  happiness  was  of  short  dura- 
tion. Mrs.  Tilly  lived  but  half  a  year  after 
she  had  become  Mrs.  Sewall,  and  it  was  all 
to  do  over  again.  He  remembered  with  sad- 
ness Madam  Winthrop,  whom  he  had  left  for 
Mrs.  Denison.  After  a  suitable  time  —  three 
months  —  he  sent  his  daughter  to  acquaint 
Madam  Winthrop  that  if  she  pleased  to  be 
within  at  three  P.M.  he  would  wait  upon  her. 
He  approaches  her  this  time  with  great  deli- 
cacy. "  My  loving  wife  died  so  soon  and  so 
suddenly,  'twas  hardly  convenient  for  me  to 
think  of  Marrying  again ;  however  I  came  to 
this  Resolution,  that  I  would  not  make  my 
Court  to  any  person  without  first  Consulting 
with  her."  They  then  discoursed  pleasantly 
about  the  seven  single  persons  who  sat  in  the 
fore-seat  the  previous  Sunday.  The  next 
day  they  continued  this  discourse;  and,  as 


1/6  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

she  recommended  one  widow  after  another, 
he  prayed  that  Katherine  herself  might  be  the 
one.  But  she  refused,  "  as  if  she  had  catched 
at  an  opportunity  to  do  it."  The  wooer 
refused  to  be  dispouraged,  gave  her  the 
"  Fountain  Opened,"  and  said  he  would  call 
that  day  Sennight,  the  loth.  Instead  of 
waiting  for  the  appointed  day,  however,  he 
called  twice  within  the  week ;  gave  her  "  a 
piece  of  Cake  and  Ginger  Bread  wrapped  up 
in  a  clean  sheet  of  Paper ;  "  told  her  of  his 
loneliness,  and  that  they  might  help  to  for- 
ward one  another  in  their  journey  to  Canaan. 
On  the  roth  he  called,  and  was  "  treated  with 
a  great  deal  of  Curtesy ;  Wine,  Marmalade." 
On  the  i  ith  he  sent  her  the  following  letter : 

MADAM,  —  These  wait  on  you  with  Mr.  Mayhew's 
Sermon,  and  Account  of  the  state  of  the  Indians  on 
Martha's  Vinyard.  I  thank  you  for  your  Unmerited 
Favors  of  yesterday ;  and  hope  to  have  the  Hapiness 
of  Waiting  on  you  tomorrow  before  Eight  aclock 
after  Noon.  I  pray  God  to  keep  you,  and  give  you  a 
joyfull  entrance  upon  the  Two  Hundred  and  twenty 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  177 

ninth  year  of  Christopher  Columbus  his  Discovery; 
and  take  Leave  who  am,  Madam  your  humble  Serv'. 

S.  S. 

When  he  called  next  day,  he  found  her  full 
of  work  behind  a  stand,  and  her  countenance 
much  changed,  —  "  looked  dark  and  lower- 
ing." He  got  his  chair  in  place,  and  "  had 
some  Converse,  but  very  Cold  and  indifferent 
to  what  'twas  before.  Ask'd  her  to  acquit 
me  of  Rudeness  If  I  drew  off  her  Glove. 
Enquiring  the  reason,  I  told  her  'twas  great 
odds  between  handling  a  dead  Goat,  and  a 
living  Lady.  Got  it  off."  She,  however, 
persisted  in  her  refusal,  recommended  other 
widows  to  him,  and  finally  twitted  him  with 
leaving  her  for  Mrs.  Denison.  Upon  which 
he  told  her  that  if  after  a  first  and  second 
vagary  she  would  accept  of  him  returning, 
"  Her  Victorious  Kindness  and  Good  Will 
would  be  very  Obliging."  He  gave  her  an- 
other book.  She  filled  a  glass  of  wine,  and 
sent  her  servant  home  with  him  with  a  good 
12 


1 78  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

lantern.  "  Told  her  the  reason  why  I  came 
every  other  night  was  lest  I  should  drink  too 
deep  draughts  of  Pleasure.  She  had  talked 
of  Canary,  her  Kisses  were  to  me  better  than 
the  best  Canary."  When  they  came  to  the 
question  of  settlements,  Madam  Winthrop 
mentioned  her  desire  that  he  should  keep  a 
coach,  and  also  added  the  condition  that  he 
should  wear  a  wig.  The  next  day  his  son, 
the  minister,  came  to  him  by  appointment, 
and  they  went  into  his  chamber  and  prayed 
together  concerning  the  courtship.  Not  to 
much  avail,  it  would  seem,  for  Madam  proved 
cold  that  night.  She  offered  him  no  wine ; 
when  he  rose  to  go  did  not  offer  to  help  him 
put  on  his  coat;  would  not  send  her  servant 
to  light  him  home,  but  let  him  stumble  along 
as  best  he  could.  He  explained  that  he 
could  not  afford  to  keep  a  coach.  "  As  to  a 
Perriwig,  My  best  and  greatest  Friend,  began 
to  find  me  with  Hair  before  I  was  born,  and 
had  continued  to  do  so  ever  since ;  and  I 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  179 

could  not  find  in  my  heart  to  go  to  another." 
The  son  again  came  and  prayed  with  his 
father  about  the  courtship,  but  with  no  better 
success  than  before. 

Mrs.  VVinthrop  was  rocking  her  grand- 
daughter's cradle  when  he  came,  and  she 
placed  the  cradle  between  his  chair  and  hers. 
"  The  Fire  was  come  to  one  short  Brand 
beside  the  Block ;  "  and  when  it  fell  to  pieces 
and  she  did  not  replenish  it,  he  took  the  hint. 
"Took  leave  of  her  .  .  .  did  not  bid  her 
draw  off  her  Glove  as  sometime  I  had  done. 
Her  Dress  was  not  so  clean  as  sometime  it 
had  been.  Jehovah  Jireh  !  "  Thus  ended 
another  dream. 

The  Widow  Ruggles  proved  equally  obdu- 
rate. "  She  express'd  her  inability  to  be 
Servicable."  She  even  "  made  some  Diffi- 
culty to  accept  an  Election  Sermon,  lest  it 
should  be  an  obligation  on  her." 

The  judge's  next  attempt  was  a  letter  to 
Mrs.  Mary  Gibbs,  widow,  of  Newtown :  — 


ISO  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

JANUARY  12,  lyjj. 

MADAM,  —  Your  Removal  out  of  Town  and  the 
Severity  of  the  Winter,  are  the  reason  of  my  making 
you  this  Epistolary  Visit.  In  times  past  (as  I  remem- 
ber) you  were  minded  that  I  should  marry  you,  by 
giving  you  to  your  desirable  Bridegroom.  Some  sense 
of  this  intended  Respect  abides  with  me  still;  and 
puts  me  upon  enquiring  whether  you  be  willing  that 
I  should  Marry  you  now,  by  becoming  your  Husband ; 
Aged,  and  feeble,  and  exhausted  as  I  am,  your  favor- 
able Answer  to  this  Enquirey,  in  a  few  Lines,  the 
Candor  of  it  will  much  oblige,  Madam,  your  humble 
Serv't.  S.  S. 

The  widow's  answer  was  favorable,  and  he 
rode  to  Newtown  in  a  coach  to  visit  her. 
Carried  her  a  pound  of  glazed  almonds  and 
"  a  Duz.  Meers  Cakes ;  Two  bottles  of  Can- 
ary,"—  not  such  expensive  presents  as  he 
had  given  the  others ;  perhaps  Mrs.  Gibbs 
was  too  easily  won.  They  discussed  settle- 
ments, and  she  thought  him  hard.  After  a 
good  deal  of  higgling  the  matter  was  settled, 
and  the  banns  were  published,  upon  which 
he  writes  to  her:  "Madam,  Possibly  you 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  l8l 

have  heard  of  our  Publishment  last  Thors- 
day,  before  now.  It  remains  for  us  to  join 
together  in  fervent  Prayers,  without  ceasing, 
that  God  would  graciously  Crown  our  Es- 
pousals with  his  Blessing.  A  good  Wife,  and 
a  good  Husband  too,  are  from  the  Lord.  .  .  . 
Please  to  accept  of  Mr.  Mitchel's  Sermons 
of  Glory,  which  is  inclosed."  They  were 
married  by  his  son-in-law,  and  the  third  Mrs. 
Sewall  outlived  him.  We  hope  she  cared  for 
him  tenderly  during  these  last  few  years  of 
his  life. 

Sewall  has  been  called  the  last  of  the 
Puritans ;  and  truly  before  his  death  the  old 
order  of  things  had  passed  away.  His  last 
years  were  a  continual  protest  against  the 
new  ideas  which  were  making  their  way 
into  Boston,  of  which  periwigs  were  but  the 
outward  sign.  How  it  must  have  wrung 
his  soul  to  write  that  the  governor  gave  a 
ball  which  lasted  till  three  o'clock  in  the 


morning 


1 82  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

What  impression  do  we  get  of  the  charac- 
ter of  this  man  who  lived  two  hundred  years 
ago,  and  whom  we  know  more  intimately 
than  any  one  else  that  ever  walked  the  streets 
of  Boston?  Who  of  us  could  stand  the  test 
of  writing  out  from  day  to  day,  not  only  our 
outward  actions,  but  our  inward  thoughts? 
What  impression  would  the  record  make 
upon  posterity  two  centuries  hence?  Judge 
Sewall  has  stood  this  test  without  losing 
one  grain  of  our  respect.  The  diary  is  quaint 
and  amusing,  sometimes  even  undignified, 
and  causes  many  a  smile  as  we  linger  over 
its  pages ;  but  there  is  not  a  single  unworthy 
page  in  it,  not  one  that  we  wish  had  been 
left  unwritten.  There  are  no  scandals,  no 
harsh  criticisms  of  contemporaries,  no  reve- 
lations of  hypocrisy.  One  of  his  last  entries 
is  this  sentiment  from  the  "  New  England 
Weekly  Journal "  :  "  There  is  no  notion  more 
false  than  that  which  some  have  taken  up, 
that  Religion  is  inconsistent  with  a  Gentle- 


AN  OLD-TIME  MAGISTRATE.  183 

man."  May  we  not  leave  him  with  the  fit- 
ting tribute  which  Whittier  has  paid  tc  this 
magistrate  of  the  olden  time,  "  Samuel 
Sewall,  the  good  and  wise"?  — 

"  His  face  with  lines  of  firmness  wrought, 
He  wears  the  look  of  a  man  unbought, 
Who  swears  to  his  hurt  and  changes  not; 
Yet,  touched  and  softened  nevertheless 
With  the  grace  of  Christian  gentleness, 
The  face  that  a  child  would  climb  to  kiss ! 
True  and  tender  and  brave  and  just, 
That  man  might  honor  and  woman  trust. 

Green  forever  the  memory  be 

Of  the  Judge  of  the  old  Theocracy, 

Whom  even  his  errors  glorified, 

Like  a  far-seen,  sunlit  mountain  side 

By  the  cloudy  shadows  which  o'er  it  glide  ! 

Honor  and  praise  to  the  Puritan 

Who  the  halting  step  of  his  age  outran. 

To  the  saintly  soul  of  the  early  day, 
To  the  Christian  judge,  let  us  turn  and  say  : 
Praise  and  thanks  for  an  honest  man ! 
Glory  to  God  for  the  Puritan !  " 


SOME    DELUSIONS    OF   OUR   FORE- 
FATHERS. 


SOME    DELUSIONS    OF   OUR    FORE- 
FATHERS. 

TF  our  forefathers  had  been  invariably  wise 
and  just  and  good,  they  would  not  have 
been  human.  Had  they  never  made  mistakes, 
they  would  have  been  too  far  removed  from 
us.  Our  own  degeneracy  would  have  been 
too  depressing.  It  is  indeed  true,  as  William 
Stoughton  said  in  his  election  sermon  of 
1688,  that  "  God  sifted  a  whole  nation,  that 
He  might  send  choice  grain  into  the  wilder- 
ness." In  John  Fiske's  opinion,  there  has 
been,  in  all  history, "  no  other  instance  of  colo- 
nization so  exclusively  effected  by  picked  and 
chosen  men."  In  integrity,  in  earnestness,  in 
that  quality  which  is  best  expressed  by  the 
word,  "  backbone,"  they  had  no  peers.  Their 
convictions,  their  close  study  of  principles, 
had  given  them  enlarged  views  on  many 
187 


1 88  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

subjects ;  but  we  must  not  expect  them  to 
have  been  prophets  and  seers.  We  must  not 
consider  them  as  a  band  of  chosen  philoso- 
phers, who  had  come  here  to  establish  ad- 
vanced ideas.  The  earnestness  which  made 
them  willing  to  endure  all  manner  of  persecu- 
tion, to  face  banishment  and  all  kind  of  hard- 
ships rather  than  abandon  their  convictions, 
made  them,  in  a  sense,  narrow.  Those  convic- 
tions were  of  tremendous  importance;  they 
were  a  matter  of  life  and  death ;  they  must 
be  guarded  within  and  without.  Hence  the 
expulsion  of  Ann  Hutchinson,  of  Roger 
Williams,  of  the  Quakers,  and  other  heretics. 
It  is  not  in  a  spirit  of  criticism  that  we  should 
examine  their  mistakes,  but  in  a  spirit  of 
inquiry  to  judge  wherein  we  resemble  them. 
"It  is  well,"  says  Nevin,  "to  revive  the 
unwise  or  unjust  acts  of  our  ancestors  some- 
times, as  we  would  place  a  beacon  on  some 
shoal  or  reef  where  a  ship  had  been  wrecked, 
to  warn  others  of  the  danger." 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     189 

We  have  seen  that,  according  to  Cotton 
Mather,  the  seven  enemies  with  whom  New 
England  had  to  contend  were  "  the  Devil, 
Separatists,  Familists,  Antinomians,  Quakers, 
clerical  impostors,  and  Indians."  All  o 
these  were  more  or  less  in  league  with  Satan 
and  under  his  influence.  The  Indians  were 
his  special  emissaries,  his  subjects,  and  wor- 
shippers. When  heretics,  false  prophets, 
and  impostors  had  been  driven  out,  when 
the  Indians  had  been  repeatedly  conquered, 
and  their  power  lessened,  the  devil  began  to 
tremble  lest  he  was  to  be  driven  from  his 
own  soil.  He  roused  himself  for  a  mighty 
effort.  The  second  and  third  generations  of 
New  England  had  to  contend  with  Satan 
himself  in  a  terrible  conflict  for  the  mastery. 
For  centuries  it  had  been  held  that  the  devil 
was  the  head  and  ruler  of  a  world  of  his  own, 
—  a  world  of  demons;  that  he  was  able  to 
hold  communications  with  mortals,  to  inter- 
fere in  their  affairs,  and  to  exercise  more  or 


I QO  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

less  control  over  the  laws  of  nature.  The 
logical  result  of  this  belief  was  the  belief  in 
demoniacal  possession  or  witchcraft;  that  is, 
that  a  person  could  sign  a  compact  with 
Satan,  and  by  this  means  obtain  certain  su- 
pernatural powers.  This  belief  was  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  ignorant,  the  credu- 
lous, and  the  superstitious.  It  was  held  by 
Luther,  by  Melancthon,  and  by  Kepler. 
The  wisest  philosphers,  the  most  eminent 
scholars,  accepted  without  question  the  ex- 
istence of  witches.  Richard  Baxter,  whose 
"  Saints'  Rest "  has  soothed  so  many  souls, 
was  a  firm  believer.  Doctor  More,  Sir 
Thomas  Browne,  Boyle,  Cranmer,  and  Bacon 
were  believers.  As  late  as  1765  Blackstone, 
the  great  expounder  of  English  law,  wrote: 
"To  deny  the  possibility,  nay,  actual  exist- 
ence of  witchcraft  and  sorcery,  is  at  once 
flatly  to  contradict  the  revealed  word  of  God 
in  various  passages  both  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments;  and  the  thing  itself  is  a  truth 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     191 

to  which  every  nation  in  the  world  hath,  in 
its  time,  borne  testimony  either  by  example, 
seemingly  well  attested,  or  by  prohibitory 
laws  which  at  least  suppose  the  possibility  of 
commerce  with  evil  spirits." 

In  the  seventeenth  century  a  canon  in  the 
English  Church  forbade  ministers  to  cast  out 
devils  without  a  license ;  and  the  Bishop  of 
Chester  actually  issued  licenses  duly  author- 
izing certain  ministers  to  cast  out  devils. 
During  this  whole  century  there  were  trials 
and  executions  for  witchcraft  in  all  civilized 
countries.  More  than  two  hundred  victims 
were  hanged  in  England ;  thousands  were 
burned  in  Scotland,  and  still  larger  numbers 
in  France,  Germany,  and  Italy.  In  Geneva, 
in  1514,  five  hundred  persons  are  said  to  have 
been  executed  for  witchcraft  in  two  weeks. 
We  have  an  account  of  the  expenses  attend- 
ing the  execution  of  two  witches  in  Scotland, 
which  shows  the  cool,  matter-of-fact  way  in 
which  the  affair  was  managed. 


OLD   COLONY  DAYS, 


For  10  loads  of  coal  to  burn  them    .     •  £3    68 

For  a  tar  barrel    ........  o  14  o 

For  towes   ..........  060 

For  burden  to  be  jumps  for  them     .     .  3  n  o 

For  making  of  them       ......  080 

For  one  to  go  to  Fairmouth  for  the  Laird 

to  sit  upon  their  assize  as  judge      .  060 

For  the  executioner  for  his  pains     .     .  8  14  o 

For  his  expenses  here    ......  0160 


Total 18  16  4 

Matthew  Hopkins  in  England  was  so  zeal- 
ous in  the  matter  of  exterminating  witches 
that  he  received  the  title  of  "  witch  finder 
general."  He  travelled  from  place  to  place ; 
his  expenses  were  paid,  and  he  required  in 
addition  regular  fees  for  the  discovery  of  a 
witch.  One  of  his  tests  was  to  prick  the 
body  of  the  accused  with  pins,  to  find  whether 
there  was  a  callous  spot,  which  was  supposed 
to  be  the  devil's  mark.  His  favorite  test  was 
to  tie  the  thumb  of  the  right  hand  to  the  toe 
of  the  left  foot,  and  drag  the  victims  through 
a  river  or  pond ;  if  they  floated,  they  were 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     193 

witches.  His  success  was  so  great  that  the 
people  accounted  for  it  by  declaring  that  he 
had  stolen  the  devil's  memorandum  book,  in 
which  Satan  had  recorded  the  names  of  those 
who  were  in  league  with  him.  It  is  some 
satisfaction  to  know  that  his  own  right  thumb 
and  left  toe  were  finally  tied  together,  and  he 
was  dragged  through  a  pond.  But  this  did 
not  happen  until  he  had  procured  the  death, 
in  one  year,  and  in  one  county,  of  more  than 
three  times  as  many  as  suffered  in  Salem 
during  the  whole  delusion.  We  see,  then, 
that  the  witchcraft  tragedy  in  this  country 
was  a  very  small  affair  compared  with  those 
of  the  Old  World,  although  we  have  fallen 
into  the  habit  of  speaking  of  Salem  witch- 
craft as  if  it  were  something  unique  in  the 
history  of  civilization. 

Before   we    take    up   this    dark    history   in 

detail,    let    us    see    what    witchcraft    meant. 

What  constituted  a  witch?     "  A  witch  was  a 

person  who  had  made  an  actual,  deliberate, 

13 


194  OLD  COLONY  DAYS, 

formal  compact  with  Satan,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  she  should  become  his  faithful 
subject,  and  do  all  in  her  power  to  aid  him 
in  his  rebellion  against  God  and  his  warfare 
against  the  gospel  and  Church  of  Christ. 
Thus  a  witch  was  considered  as  a  person 
who  had  transferred  allegiance  from  God  to 
the  devil."  Satan  was  always  glad  to  have 
these  human  agents  in  league  with  him. 
In  return  for  their  services  he  bestowed 
on  the  witches  certain  supernatural  powers. 
Through  this  compact  a  witch  was  believed 
to  have  the  power  of  afflicting,  distressing, 
and  rending  whomsoever  she  would.  She 
could  cause  them  to  pine  away,  throw  them 
into  the  most  frightful  convulsions,  choke, 
bruise,  pierce,  and  craze  them,  subject  them 
to  every  description  of  pain  and  disease, 
and  even  to  death  itself.  The  persons  upon 
whom  she  exercised  her  evil  influence  were 
said  to  be  bewitched.  The  witches  could 
exert  this  influence  at  any  distance  of  time 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     195 

or  space.  When  they  could  not  go  in  per- 
son to  the  ones  they  wished  to  afflict,  they 
could  transform  themselves  into  the  likeness 
of  some  animal,  —  a  dog,  hog,  cat,  rat,  mouse, 
or  toad,  or  a  yellow  bird.  They  also  had 
imps  under  their  control;  and  these  took  the 
form  of  an  insect,  such  as  a  fly  or  a  spider. 
A  witch  could  also  act  upon  her  victims 
through  her  spirit,  spectre,  or  apparition. 
Satan  enabled  her  to  be  anywhere  and 
everywhere  at  once.  She  could  also  operate 
on  others  by  means  of  puppets.  She  could 
procure  any  kind  of  a  doll,  and  will  it  to 
represent  the  person  whom  she  wished  to 
torment.  Then  whatever  she  did  to  the 
puppet  or  doll  would  be  suffered  by  the  per- 
son it  represented.  A  pin  stuck  into  the 
puppet  would  pierce  the  flesh  of  the  person 
she  wished  to  afflict.  A  witch  could  also 
read  the  thoughts  of  others,  and  could  influ- 
ence the  minds  of  those  whom  she  wished  to 
tempt.  She  could  cast  the  evil  eye. 


196  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Now  let  us  imagine,  for  a  moment,  what 
the  case  would  be  if  we  believed  in  the  power 
of  human  beings  to  work  such  evil.  What 
would  be  our  attitude  toward  them?  Are  we 
willing  to  turn  a  wild  beast  loose  in  our 
midst?  Would  we  let  a  small-pox  patient 
roam  our  streets  at  will?  Would  we  leave  a 
dangerous  lunatic  at  large?  Yet  how  small 
the  danger  from  any  of  these  sources  com- 
pared to  what  might  be  expected  from  the 
presence  of  witches.  Unless  we  can  place  our- 
selves at  this  standpoint  we  cannot  realize  the 
terrible  panic  that  swept  over  New  England 
two  hundred  years  ago.  The  horror  of  that 
tragedy  would  be  unendurable  were  we  not 
able  to  remember  that  the  community  was 
mad  with  terror.  Malice  and  imposture  were 
at  work,  of  course,  but  the  field  had  been 
prepared  for  them.  In  the  case  of  the  Salem 
tragedies,  moreover,  it  was  not  simply  terror 
and  superstition  that  actuated  our  forefathers; 
it  was  also  the  stern  determination  to  meet 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR   FOREFATHERS.     197 

Satan  face  to  face  and  drive  him  from  the 
land. 

There  were  a  number  of  witches  hung  in 
the  colonies  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
epidemic  at  Salem.  The  first  execution  for 
witchcraft,  in  the  New  World,  was  in  Charles- 
town,  in  1647,  the  victim  being  Margaret 
Jones.  Governor  Winthrop  presided  over 
the  trial  and  pronounced  her  sentence.  He 
gravely  records  in  his  journal  the  evidence 
against  her,  and  also  the  fact  that  the 
"  same  day  and  hour  she  was  executed, 
there  was  a  very  great  tempest  at  Con- 
necticut which  blew  down  many  trees." 
Mistress  Ann  Hibbins,  of  Boston,  was  sen- 
tenced by  Governor  Endicott.  In  1680, 
Governor  Bradstreet  sentenced  a  witch  to  be 
hanged,  but  afterward  granted  a  reprieve, 
and,  though  the  General  Court  protested  and 
urged  her  death,  he  succeeded  in  saving  the 
woman's  life.  Had  Governor  Bradstreet  been 
in  power  in  1692,  our  annals  might  have 


198  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

been  different.  He  was  one  of  the  few  en- 
lightened ones  who  consistently  opposed  the 
storm  of  prejudice.  The  most  interesting 
witch  trial,  previous  to  those  at  Salem,  was 
that  of  Goody  Glover,  an  Irish  Catholic 
woman,  who  was  sentenced  to  death  for  hav- 
ing bewitched  the  Goodwin  children.  These 
clever  little  impostors  succeeded  in  fooling 
the  most  learned  men  of  Boston,  including 
Cotton  Mather,  who  wrote  an  account  of 
their  strange  performances.  The  writings  of 
the  Mathers  no  doubt  helped  to  arouse  a 
morbid  interest  in  the  subject  of  witchcraft. 
These  earlier  cases  show  that  the  outbreak  at 
Salem  was  not  phenomenal.  It  differed  in 
degree,  but  not  in  kind,  from  what  was  taking 
place  elsewhere.  A  lack  of  wisdom  in  the 
prominent  men  led  them  to  foster  the  excite- 
ment rather  than  check  it,  and  the  terrible 
tragedy  followed. 

In  all  the  annals  of  crime  there  is  no  more 
singular   story   than   that   of  the   bewitched 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     199 

children  of  Salem  village.  Eight  girls,  their 
ages  ranging  from  nine  years  to  eighteen, 
together  with  two  or  three  servant  girls,  pro- 
cured the  death  of  twenty  people  and  the 
persecution  and  imprisonment  of  at  least  two 
hundred  more.  In  our  own  day  we  have 
shuddered  at  the  depravity  of  a  boy  criminal 
like  Jesse  Pomeroy.  Before  the  depravity 
of  the  "  bewitched  children,"  as  they  were 
called,  the  mind  simply  stands  appalled, 
refusing  to  comprehend.  Psychologists  can 
give  us  no  explanation.  That  these  chil- 
dren were  deliberate,  wicked,  cruel  impostors 
there  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt.  It  is  easy 
to  account  for  the  madness  of  the  com- 
munity. The  history  of  panics  is  always 
the  same.  But  the  conduct  of  the  girls 
who  worked  up  the  panic  cannot  be  ex- 
plained. It  would  be  charitable  to  suppose 
them  insane,  but  there  is  too  much  proof 
of  method  in  their  madness. 

The  strange  doings  began  in  the  house  of 


200  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

the  Reverend  Mr.  Parris,  pastor  at  Salem 
village.  Mr.  Parris  had  formerly  lived  at  the 
West  Indies,  and  had  brought  from  there 
three  slaves,  who  were  called  Indians,  but 
were  probably  of  mixed  blood,  partly  negro. 
Two  of  these  slaves  were  concerned  in  the 
proceedings.  Tituba,  the  Indian  woman,  was 
full  of  superstitious  tales  of  magic  and  sor- 
cery belonging  to  her  native  tribe.  These 
she  poured  into  the  ears  of  the  children  of 
the  family,  —  Elizabeth  Parris,  aged  nine,  and 
her  cousin,  Abigail  Williams,  aged  eleven. 
With  them  was  Ann  Putnam,  aged  twelve, 
the  daughter  of  the  clerk  of  the  parish. 
During  the  winter  of  1691  and  '92  these  girls, 
with  half  a  dozen  others,  some  of  them  ser- 
vants, met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Parris  and 
studied  palmistry,  magic,  necromancy,  and 
the  like.  They  absorbed  all  the  lore  of 
Tituba  and  read  all  they  could  find  on  the- 
subject.  They  became  very  proficient  in  all 
kinds  of  juggling  tricks.  After  entertaining 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.    2OI 

themselves  for  a  time,  they  concluded  to 
astonish  their  families  with  their  perform- 
ances. "  They  would  creep  into  holes  and 
under  chairs,  writhe  in  dreadful  contortions, 
utter  loud  outcries  and  incoherent  unintelligi- 
ble expressions."  Then  they  added  fits, 
faints,  and  ravings  to  their  accomplishments. 
The  whole  neighborhood  was  soon  filled  with 
the  story  of  their  behavior.  Their  families 
were  alarmed ;  Dr.  Griggs,  the  village  physi- 
cian, was  called  in,  and,  not  understanding 
such  unusual  symptoms,  he  gravely  declared 
that  the  girls  were  "under  an  evil  eye;"  that 
is,  that  they  were  bewitched.  Everybody 
flocked  to  see  the  convulsions  of  the  afflicted 
children.  Their  love  of  notoriety  increasing, 
they  began  to  exhibit  their  fits  and  ravings 
in  church,  which,  remarks  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Lawson  with  much  simplicity,  "  occurring  in 
public  worship  did  something  interrupt  me 
in  my  first  prayer,  being  so  unusual."  On 
a  certain  Sunday  Abigail  Williams  cried 


202  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

out  after  the  psalm,  "Now  stand  up  and 
take  your  text !  "  then,  "  It  "s  a  long  text ! " 
Another,  in  the  middle  of  the  discourse, 
exclaimed,  "  Now  there  is  enough  of  that ! " 
One  called  out,  "  Look  where  she  sits  upon 
the  beam,  sucking  her  yellow  bird  betwixt 
her  fingers;"  and  another,  "  There  is  a  yellow 
bird  sitting  on  the  minister's  hat  as  it  hangs 
in  the  pulpit." 

Instead  of  being  punished  for  such  per- 
formances, the  girls  were  looked  upon  with 
pity  and  terror.  Mr.  Parris  was  greatly  ex- 
ercised. He  invited  the  neighboring  minis- 
ters to  his  house  for  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  The  children  performed  before 
them.  The  ministers  were  amazed  and  hor- 
ror stricken.  They  confirmed  the  decision  of 
the  doctor  that  the  children  were  under  the 
power  of  the  devil;  that  is,  they  were  be- 
witched. The  community  was  wildly  ex- 
cited. They  felt  that  the  evil  one  was  let 
loose  among  them.  As  he  could  operate 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     203 

only  through  human  beings  in  league  with 
him,  it  was  necessary  to  know  who  his  agents 
were.  "  Who  is  the  devil's  agent  bewitching 
these  unfortunate  girls?"  was  the  cry.  They 
were  importuned  to  tell  who  had  hurt  them. 
At  first  they  were  loth  to  accuse  any  one, 
but  being  pressed,  named  Good,  Osborne,  and 
Tituba.  Their  victims  were  cleverly  chosen. 
Three  more  friendless  people  could  not  be 
found.  Sarah  Good  was  a  bedridden  beggar, 
who  had  separated  from  her  husband  and 
was  universally  disliked.  Sarah  Osborne  was 
another  helpless  old  woman,  who  had  made 
an  unhappy  marriage,  was  shattered  in  mind, 
and  had  been  the  subject  of  much  scandal. 
Tituba,  the  Indian  woman,  was  an  excellent 
tool.  Warrants  were  issued  for  the  arrest 
of  the  three  women,,  and  they  were  brought 
before  the  magistrates  to  be  examined. 

The  examination  was  to  be  held  in  the 
tavern,  but  such  crowds  came  out  that  they 
had  to  adjourn  to  the  meeting-house.  The 


204  OLD   COLONY  DA  VS. 

multitude  were  filled  with  excitement  and 
abhorrence.  The  magistrates,  John  Hath- 
orne  and  Jonathan  Corwin,  seated  themselves 
in  front  of  the  pulpit,  facing  the  audience. 
Before  them  was  a  table  or  raised  platform, 
and  on  this  the  first  prisoner,  Sarah  Good, 
was  placed,  to  be  out  of  reach  of  the  crowd 
and  in  plain  sight.  The  magistrates  assumed 
from  the  first  that  the  prisoners  were  guilty, 
and  framed  their  questions  in  that  view, 
trying  to  make  them  confess  or  contradict 
themselves.  The  afflicted  children  were 
brought  in  as  witnesses  and  placed  before  the 
prisoner.  When  the  poor  old  woman,  from 
her  table,  looked  down  upon  them,  they  fell 
to  the  floor  as  if  struck  dead,  or  screeched 
in  agony;  or  went  into  fearful  spasms  and 
convulsive  fits  ;  or  cried  out  that  they  were 
pricked  with  pins,  pinched,  and  throttled  by 
invisible  hands.  Each  one  was  brought  up 
to  the  prisoner,  touched  her  person,  and  was 
at  once  restored  to  calm  and  quiet  With 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.    205 

one  voice  they  all  declared  that  Sarah  Good 
had  thus  tormented  them  by  her  power  as  a 
witch  in  league  with  the  devil.  We  may  im- 
agine the  excitement  of  the  crowd  as  they  saw 
the  effect  produced  before  their  eyes,  and  saw 
how,  upon  touching  her,  the  diabolical  effects 
ceased,  the  malignant  fluid  passing  back  like 
an  electric  stream  into  the  body  of  the  witch. 
No  other  evidence  was  needed  to  prove  her 
guilt.  She  was  carried  to  prison,  bound  with 
cords,  and  loaded  with  irons ;  for  it  was 
thought  that  fastenings  would  not  hold  a 
witch.  The  proceedings  in  the  case  of  Sarah 
Osborne  were  exactly  the  same.  The  children 
were  brought  in,  repeated  the  acting,  and 
fixed  the  delusion  more  firmly  in  the  minds 
of  the  crowd. 

When  Tituba  was  brought  upon  the  stand, 
the  wily  Indian  confessed,  and  accused  the 
other  two  of  being  her  accomplices  and  of 
having  forced  her  to  sign  the  devil's  book. 
She  repeated  to  those  grave  magistrates  and 


206  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

to  the  awe-struck  multitude  strange  tales  of 
riding  through  the  air  on  sticks,  with  Good 
and  Osborne  behind  her;  of  having  imps 
who  did  their  bidding;  of  familiar  spirits  in 
the  shape  of  cats,  dogs,  and  yellow  birds, 
which  they  sent  to  hurt  and  afflict  the 
bewitched  girls.  Day  by  day  the  same 
scenes  were  repeated.  The  magistrates,  with 
their  cavalcade,  came  in  pomp  from  Salem  to 
Salem  village,  every  morning,  and  the  pris- 
oners were  brought  on  horseback  from  the 
Ipswich  jail,  —  a  distance  of  ten  miles,  —  and 
carried  back  at  night.  The  examination  each 
day  was  simply  a  repetition,  with  the  actions 
of  the  girls  as  proof  positive  of  the  guilt  of 
the  accused.  While  Tituba  was  confessing, 
their  torments  ceased.  When  she  had  fin- 
ished she  herself  fell  into  convulsions,  declar- 
ing that  the  devil  was  punishing  her  for  her 
confessions. 

Tituba  had  said  that  there  were  four  women 
and  two  men  in  the  league,  and  it  was  neces- 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     2O/ 

sary  to  find  the  other  two.  The  girls,  having 
gained  such  an  influence,  became  bolder  in 
their  charges  and  aimed  higher.  Their  next 
victim  was  Martha  Corey,  an  honored  mem- 
ber of  the  church,  against  whom  there  was 
not  a  shadow  of  blame.  She  had  incurred 
their  ill-will  by  declaring  her  unbelief  in 
witchcraft.  They  feared  the  clear  eyes  which 
could  see  their  imposture,  and  decided  to  put 
her  out  of  the  way  by  calling  her  a  witch. 
The  fourth  was  Frances  Nourse,  a  mother  in 
Israel,  and  a  disbeliever  in  witchcraft. 

At  this  stage,  Deodat  Lawson,  a  former 
pastor,  arrived  in  the  village  and  preached  a 
memorable  sermon  on  the  all-engrossing 
theme.  With  impassioned  eloquence  he 
summoned  the  people  of  God  to  rally  and 
confront  unflinchingly  their  hellish  foe.  The 
effect  of  his  sermon  was  terrible.  Awe, 
anger,  consternation,  and  frantic  zeal  filled 
the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  The  Reverend  Mr. 
Parris  also  preached  on  the  subject,  from  the 


2O8  OLD  COLONY  DA  Y$. 

text,  "  Have  I  not  chosen  you  twelve  and 
one  of  you  is  a  devil?"  It  was  communion 
Sunday.  Sarah  Cloyse,  the  sister  of  Frances 
Nourse,  was  present.  The  sister  who  had  sat 
with  her  on  the  last  communion  day  was  now 
chained  in  prison,  "  awaiting  the  horrors  of  a 
frenzied  tribunal."  She  felt  that  the  text  was 
a  fling  at  her  sister,  and  her  heart  was  too 
full  to  remain.  She  arose  and  passed  out  of 
the  meeting-house  to  her  home.  From  that 
day  she,  too,  was  marked  as  a  witch,  and  her 
doom  was  sealed.  Other  charges  followed. 
A  child  four  years  old  was  placed  in  prison. 
No  one  was  safe,  high  or  low.  The  Reverend 
Mr.  Burroughs,  a  former  pastor,  was  declared 
a  witch,  and  brought  from  Maine  for  his  trial. 
A  council  from  the  General  Court,  consisting 
of  the  deputy  governor  and  five  magistrates, 
came  out  to  inquire  into  the  matter.  The 
prisons  were  almost  full  of  those  who  had 
signed  the  devil's  book.  Panic  prevailed 
everywhere.  People  began  to  feel  that  their 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     2CX) 

only  safety  lay  in  accusing  others.  Many 
confessed  to  save  themselves.  Business  was 
at  a  standstill.  Many  quit  the  country. 

Just  at  this  crisis,  Sir  William  Phipps 
arrived  in  Boston,  the  new  Governor  chosen 
by  Increase  Mather.  The  new  charter,  which 
made  Massachusetts  a  royal  province  instead 
of  an  independent  colony,  was  put  in  force. 
A  more  unsuitable  man  for  such  an  emer- 
gency could  not  have  been  found.  Ignorant, 
credulous,  and  superstitious,  he  increased  the 
frenzy  instead  of  assuaging  it.  His  first 
order  was  that  heavy  irons  should  be  put 
upon  all  those  in  prison.  Salem  jails  were 
now  full  of  those  awaiting  final  trial.  The 
governor  appointed  a  special  court  of  Oyer 
and  Terminer  to  try  them,  consisting  of  seven 
judges,  with  Lieutenant-Governor  Stoughton 
as  Chief  Justice. 

Many  were  the  tests  by  which  a  witch  was 
discovered.  It  was  believed  that  a  witch 
could  not  weep,  could  not  shed  tears.  If 


210  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

then  the  accused  were  too  dazed  or  angry  to 
weep,  it  told  against  them.  Again,  it  was 
believed  that  when  they  signed  the  infernal 
compact,  the  devil  put  his  mark  upon  them 
by  touching  with  his  finger  some  part  of  the 
body.  His  touch  left  a  callous  spot  which 
could  not  feel  pain.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed of  each  sex  to  examine  the  bodies  of 
the  accused.  The  only  way  of  testing  them 
was  by  sticking  pins  into  them  to  find  the 
callous  spot  or  the  devil's  mark.  There  was 
also  the  test  by  water,  already  spoken  of.  "  If 
you  float,  you  are  a  witch :  if  you  sink,  you 
are  not."  This  was  not  much  used  in  Salem. 
But  the  worst  thing  was  the  spectral  evidence. 
It  was  believed  that  a  witch  could  be  present 
in  her  spectre  or  apparition  at  any  place  she 
pleased,  no  matter  what  the  distance.  If, 
then,  the  afflicted  testified  that  they  had  been 
tormented  by  the  shape  of  any  person,  it 
was  of  no  use  to  prove  an  alibi,  for  a  witch 
could  easily  be  in  two  or  three  places  at  once. 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.    211 

If  she  did  not  wish  to  go  herself,  she  could 
send  her  imp,  in  the  shape  of  a  dog,  cat, 
toad,  rat,  spider,  or  bird ;  or  she  could  roll 
up  a  bundle  of  rags  into  a  puppet,  and  by 
sticking  pins  into  it  could  torment  whom- 
soever she  would. 

Then  there  was  the  visible  evidence  of  the 
effect  of  the  presence  of  the  accused  upon 
the  afflicted.  As  soon  as  a  prisoner  was 
brought  in,  the  girls  fell  into  convulsions  and 
ravings.  If,  in  her  terror,  she  clasped  her 
hands,  they  would  shriek  out  that  she  was 
pinching  them.  When  she  pressed  her  lips, 
they  exclaimed  that  she  was  biting  them.  If 
in  her  weariness  she  leaned  to  one  side  or  the 
other,  they  cried  out  that  their  bodies  were 
crushed.  If  she  took  a  step  or  changed  her 
position,  they  would  say  their  feet  were  in 
pain.  When  Goody  Nourse's  head  drooped 
to  one  side  from  fatigue,  their  necks  were  bent 
the  same  way.  Elizabeth  Hubbard's  neck 
was  fixed  in  that  direction  and  could  not  be 


212  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

moved.  Abigail  Williams  cried  out,  "  Set 
up  Goody  Nourse's  head,  the  maid's  neck 
will  be  broke."  Whereupon  some  one  held 
the  prisoner's  head  up  and  Betty  Hubbard's 
was  immediately  righted.  The  afflicted  girls 
also  declared  that  they  were  pricked  with 
pins,  and  the  pins  drawn  from  under  their 
flesh  were  produced  in  court.  These  pins 
are  still  preserved  in  Salem  in  the  court- 
house. They  are  kept  in  a  glass  bottle, 
sealed  with  the  court  seal.  Sometimes  the 
evidence  was  so  appalling  that  the  amazed 
prisoners  were  led  to  believe  in  their  own 
guilt. 

Against  such  testimony  as  this  no  plea 
that  they  could  make  would  be  of  any  avail. 
To  be  accused  meant  to  be  convicted.  The 
verdict  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  In  the 
case  of  Frances  Nourse,  the  jury  were  so  im- 
pressed by  the  age,  character,  and  bearing  of 
the  woman  that  they  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
not  guilty.  Immediately  there  was  an  out- 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.    21$ 

cry  from  the  accusers  and  the  spectators. 
Whereupon  the  magistrates  sent  the  jury 
back  to  find  another  verdict,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  pronounce  her  guilty.  After  her 
condemnation  the  governor  granted  her  a  re- 
prieve ;  but  the  people  of  Salem  prevailed 
upon  him  to  recall  it,  and  she  was  executed 
with  the  rest.  After  the  sentence  was  passed, 
she  was,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  parish, 
formally  excommunicated  from  the  church, 
of  which  she  had  been  for  more  than  fifty 
years  an  honored  member.  There  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  her  body,  instead  of  being  thrown 
into  the  pit  on  Gallows  Hill,  was  stolen  away 
by  her  children  and  buried  at  the  home.  A 
beautiful  monument  now  marks  her  grave, 
and  two  years  ago  her  descendants,  to  the 
number  of  hundreds,  celebrated  the  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  her  martyrdom. 

Among  the  saddest  cases  of  this  series  of 
tragedies  are  those  of  Martha  Corey  and  her 
husband,  Giles  Corey.  Mrs.  Corey  was  an 


214  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

earnest,  sincere  Christian,  and  too  enlightened 
for  the  age  in  which  she  lived.  She  was  one 
of  the  two  or  three  bold  ones  who  dared  to 
say  that  they  did  not  believe  in  witches. 
This  disbelief  was  enough  in  itself  to  cast 
suspicion  on  her.  A  person  who  did  not 
believe  in  witchcraft  was  considered  almost 
an  infidel.  A  member  of  the  Royal  Society 
in  England  but  a  few  years  before  had  writ- 
ten, "  Atheism  is  begun  in  Sadducism.  And 
those  that  dare  not  bluntly  say  '  there  is  no 
God,'  content  themselves,  for  a  fair  step  and 
introduction,  to  deny  there  are  spirits  or 
witches ! "  Giles  Corey,  the  husband,  had 
been  a  hard,  rough  man  all  his  life,  and  had 
engaged  in  quarrels  and  lawsuits ;  but,  a  year 
or  two  before,  when  over  eighty  years  of  age, 
he  had  joined  the  church.  He  was  com- 
pletely carried  away  by  the  excitement.  He 
left  his  work,  day  after  day,  to  attend  the  first 
examinations.  When  his  wife  spoke  freely 
and  fearlessly  against  the  delusions,  and 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     21$ 

begged  him  to  stay  away  from  the  trials,  he 
was  horrified  at  her  infidelity.  When  the 
wretched  children  cried  out  upon  her  as  a 
witch,  the  superstitious  old  man  began  to  fear 
there  was  some  truth  in  it.  He  remembered 
that  she  often  remained  kneeling  on  the 
hearthstone  a  long  time  after  he  had  gone 
to  bed.  He  remembered  accidents  that  had 
happened  to  his  ox  and  his  cat.  He  remem- 
bered that  his  saddle  had  sometimes  disap- 
peared when  he  wanted  to  go  to  the  trials. 
He  remembered  that  recently,  when  he  tried 
to  pray,  he  could  not  think  of  anything  to 
say,  and  he  feared  he  was  bewitched ;  not  re- 
alizing, poor  old  man,  that  when  one  has  been 
for  eighty  years  unaccustomed  to  prayer,  the 
habit  may  not  come  easily.  All  these  un- 
guarded expresssions  of  his  were  used  against 
Mrs.  Corey.  The  greatest  excitement  pre- 
vailed at  her  trial.  One  hysterical  woman 
threw  her  muff  at  her,  and,  missing  her  aim, 
took  off  her  shoe  and  threw  it,  hitting  Mrs. 


2l6  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Corey  on  the  head.  Two  of  Corey's  sons-in- 
law  testified  against  her.  Martha  Corey  was 
committed  to  prison ;  was  tried,  and  sen- 
tenced to  death.  "  Protesting  her  inocency, 
she  concluded  her  life  with  prayer  upon  the 
ladder." 

Giles  Corey  had  scarcely  awakened  from 
his  delusion  and  realized  the  terrible  fate 
that  awaited  his  wife,  when  he  himself  was 
marked  as  a  victim.  He  had  probably 
spoken  too  freely  of  her  condemnation. 
Knowing  that  there  was  no  hope  of  justice, 
and  that  to  be  accused  meant  certain  death, 
he  resolved  upon  a  heroic  course.  He  had 
four  married  daughters.  Two  of  his  sons-in- 
law  had  testified  against  his  wife.  He  wished 
to  show  his  attitude  to  those  who  had  been 
false  to  her  and  to  those  who  had  been 
true.  He  therefore  made  a  will,  in  prison, 
which  was  rather  a  deed,  conveying  all  his 
property  to  the  two  who  had  upheld  his 
wife  in  her  trouble.  He  feared,  however, 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     2 1/ 

that  if  he  were  tried  and  convicted  of 
felony  the  will  would  not  stand,  and  his 
property  would  be  confiscated.  He  deter- 
mined not  to  be  brought  to  trial.  He  chose 
a  course  which  required  all  the  courage  and 
firmness  of  which  a  human  being  is  capa- 
ble. When  called  into  court  to  answer  to 
the  indictment  found  by  the  grand  jury,  he 
would  neither  plead  guilty  nor  not  guilty,  but 
stood  mute.  Unless  he  would  plead,  there 
could  be  no  trial;  and  he  would  thus  retain 
the  power  of  disposing  of  his  own  property, 
and  securing  it  to  his  daughters.  To  deprive 
the  public  of  the  excitement  of  the  trial,  to 
deprive  the  magistrates  of  their  right  of  con- 
victing him,  to  deprive  the  afflicted  children 
of  the  privilege  of  being  afflicted  in  his 
presence,  was  the  most  exasperating  plan 
he  could  have  taken.  But  in  spite  of  the 
wrath  and  amazement  of  the  magistrates  and 
people,  nothing  could  unseal  his  lips.  For 
such  an  offence,  which  was  called  "  standing 


2 1 8  OLD  COLONY  DA  YS. 

dumb,"  the  English  law  provided  a  penalty. 
"  In  such  cases  the  prisoner  was  to  be  three 
times  brought  before  the  court,  and  called 
to  plead ;  the  consequences  of  persisting  in 
standing  mute  being  solemnly  announced  to 
him  each  time.  If  he  remained  obdurate 
the  sentence  of  peine  forte  et  dure  was  passed 
upon  him ;  and,  remanded  to  prison,  he  was 
placed  in  a  low  and  dark  apartment.  He 
would  there  be  laid  on  his  back  on  the  bare 
floor,  naked  for  the  most  part.  A  weight  of 
iron  would  be  placed  upon  him,  not  quite 
enough  to  crush  him.  He  would  have  no 
sustenance,  save  only,  on  the  first  day,  three 
morsels  of  the  worst  bread ;  and  on  the  sec- 
ond day,  three  draughts  of  s'tanding  water 
that  should  be  nearest  to  the  prison  door; 
and,  in  this  situation,  such  would  be  alter- 
nately his  daily  diet  till  he  died,  or  till  he 
answered."  The  object  of  this  punishment 
was  to  induce  the  prisoner  to  plead  to  the 
indictment,  so  that  he  could  be  brought  to 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     2ig 

trial  in  the  ordinary  way.  The  practice  of 
putting  weights  upon  the  victims,  and  gradu- 
ally increasing  the  weight,  was  to  force  them, 
by  the  slowly  increasing  torture,  to  yield. 
Giles  Corey,  a  man  over  eighty  years  of  age, 
voluntarily  faced  this  horrible  lingering  death, 
rather  than  yield  his  rights  or  recognize  the 
justice  of  that  frenzied  tribunal.  His  heroism 
made  a  profound  impression  on  the  minds  of 
the  public,  and  had  its  influence  in  breaking 
the  spell  which  bound  them. 

During  all  these  proceedings  the  afflicted 
girls  had  grown  more  and  more  expert  in 
their  acting.  Their  continual  public  exhibi- 
tions had  increased  their  boldness  and  their 
skill.  No  necromancer  could  surpass  them 
in  the  management  of  voice  and  feature,  in 
sleight  of  hand,  in  the  simulation  of  passions, 
sufferings,  and  physical  affections.  "  There 
has  seldom  been  better  acting  in  a  theatre 
than  they  displayed  in  the  presence  of  the 
astonished  and  horror-stricken  rulers,  magis- 


220  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

trates,  ministers,  judges,  jurors,  spectators, 
and  prisoners.  Day  by  day  pastors,  dea- 
cons, church  members,  college  professors, 
officers  of  state,  everybody,  learned  and  igno- 
rant, crowded  into  the  church  to  behold  their 
feats;  feats  which  have  scarcely  ever  been 
surpassed  either  by  ancient  sorcerers  and 
magicians,  or  by  modern  jugglers  and  mes- 
merizers."  No  one  seems  to  have  dreamed 
that  their  actings  and  sufferings  could  be  the 
result  of  cunning  or  imposture.  The  accused 
themselves  were  utterly  confounded  by  the 
acting  of  the  girls,  and  almost  began  to  feel 
that  the)'-  had  been  the  instruments  of  the 
evil  one  without  knowing  it.  "  To  see  a 
young  woman  or  girl  suddenly  struck  down, 
speechless,  pallid  as  in  death ;  with  muscles 
rigid,  eyeballs  fixed  or  rolled  back  in  their 
sockets;  the  stiffened  frame  either  wholly 
prostrated  or  drawn  up  into  contorted  atti- 
tudes and  shapes,  or  vehemently  convulsed 
with  racking  pains,  or  dropping  with  relaxed 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     221 

muscles  into  a  lifeless  lump;  and  to  hear 
dread  shrieks  of  delirious  ravings,  must  have 
produced  a  truly  frightful  effect  upon  an  ex- 
cited and  deluded  assembly.  The  constables 
and  their  assistants  would  go  to  the  rescue, 
lift  the  body  of  the  sufferer,  and  bear  it  in 
their  arms  toward  the  prisoner.  The  magis- 
trates and  the  crowd,  hushed  in  the  deepest 
silence,  would  watch  with  breathless  awe 
the  result  of  the  experiment.  The  officers 
slowly  approached  the  accused,  who,  when 
they  came  near,  would,  in  obedience  to  the 
order  of  the  magistrates,  hold  out  a  hand 
and  touch  the  flesh  of  the  afflicted  one.  In- 
stantly the  spasms  cease,  the  eyes  open, 
color  returns  to  the  countenance,  the  limbs 
resume  their  position  and  functions,  and  life 
and  intelligence  are  wholly  restored.  The 
sufferer  comes  to  herself,  walks  back,  and 
takes  her  seat  as  well  as  ever."  No  wonder 
the  effect  on  the  accused  persons  was  con- 
founding, and  that  it  sometimes  broke  them 


222  OLD   COLONY  DA  VS. 

down.  Poor  Deliverance  Hobbs  was  com- 
pletely overpowered. '  Both  reason  and  con- 
science seemed  to  abandon  her.  Exclaiming, 
"  I  am  amazed,  I  am  amazed !  "  she  assented 
to  every  charge  brought  against  her,  and 
said  whatever  she  was  told  to  say. 

The  afflicted  children  had  become  the 
autocrats  of  the  village.  There  was  no  limit 
to  their  boldness.  They  were  no  longer 
cautious  as  to  where  they  should  strike.  No 
aim  was  too  high  for  them.  Dudley  Brad- 
street,  son  of  the  honored  and  revered  Simon 
Bradstreet  who  had  so  long  served  as  gov- 
ernor, was  obliged  to  flee.  Suspicion  was 
cast  upon  Lady  Phipps,  wife  of  Sir  William 
Phipps,  the  governor,  who  had  openly  sym- 
pathized with  the  prisoners.  Capt.  John 
Alden,  son  of  John  Alden  of  the  "  May- 
flower," was  brought  from  Boston  to  Salem  to 
stand  a  trial.  There  is  a  satisfaction  in  read- 
ing the  somewhat  strong  and  emphatic  sailor 
language  which  Captain  Alden  addressed  to 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.    223 

the  magistrates  on  this  occasion.  He  was 
placed  in  prison,  but  made  his  escape,  and 
fled  to  his  relatives  in  Duxbury,  where  he  re- 
mained in  hiding  until  the  storm  had  passed 
by.  The  old  sailor  could  never  afterward 
speak  of  the  episode  with  any  degree  of 
calmness. 

The  reign  of  terror  had  lasted  for  more 
than  six  months;  twenty  people  had  been 
put  to  death,  —  nineteen  by  hanging,  and 
one  by  being  pressed  to  death ;  two  had 
died  in  prison,  from  fright  and  exhaustion. 
When  eight  had  been  hanged  in  one  day  on 
Gallows  Hill,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Noyes,  pointing 
to  their  bodies,  exclaimed :  "  What  a  sad 
sight  to  see  eight  firebrands  of  hell  hanging 
there !  "  The  prisons  of  Boston,  Salem, 
Cambridge,  and  Ipswich  were  full,  and  had 
been  for  months.  Hundreds  had  been  com- 
mitted, and  were  awaiting  their  trial.  One 
victim  had  been  executed  in  June,  five  in 
July,  five  in  August,  and  eight  in  September. 


224  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Suddenly  the  storm  seemed  to  have  spent 
itself.  The  people  awakened  from  the  hor- 
rible nightmare  which  had  weighed  upon 
them.  There  is  no  other  instance  in  history 
of  so  sudden,  so  rapid,  so  complete  a  revul- 
sion of  feeling.  The  first  examination  on 
the  charge  of  witchcraft  was  held  on  the  first 
day  of  March.  The  last  execution  occurred 
on  the  twenty-second  of  September.  In  Sep- 
tember the  special  court  adjourned,  to  meet 
again  in  a  few  weeks ;  but  it  never  met  again. 
Governor  Phipps,  seeing  the  temper  of  the 
people,  abolished  the  special  court.  In  the 
following  January,  at  the  session  of  the  Supe- 
rior Court  of  Judicature  in  Salem,  the  grand 
jury  brought  in  fifty  indictments  for  witch- 
craft; but  only  three  were  convicted,  and 
these  were  never  executed.  Later,  four  were 
tried  in  Charlestown,  one  in  Boston,  and 
five  in  Ipswich;  but  no  convictions  could  be 
secured.  It  was  not  the  officials  who  had 
changed,  but  the  people.  The  jurors  re- 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     22$ 

peatedly  refused  to  convict.  When  Judge 
'Stoughton,  who  had  presided  over  both 
courts,  found  that  he  was  not  to  be  allowed 
to  sentence  any  more  witches,  he  was  so 
exasperated  that  he  left  the  bench  in  dis- 
pleasure and  never  returned.  "  Word  was 
brought  that  a  reprieve  was  sent  to  Salem, 
and  had  prevented  the  execution  of  seven  of 
those  that  were  condemned,  which  so  moved 
the  chief  judge  that  he  said  to  this  effect: 
'  We  were  in  a  way  to  have  cleared  the  land 
of  them ;  who  it  is  that  obstructs  the  cause 
of  justice  I  know  not;  the  Lord  be  merciful 
to  the  country!'  and  so  went  off  the  bench, 
and  came  no  more  into  that  court." 

One  thing  that  helped  to  turn  the  tide  of 

public  opinion  was  the  accusation  brought 

» 

against  Mrs.  Hale,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hale, 
of  Beverly.  Mr.  Hale  had  helped  to  raise 
the  storm,  had  been  zealous  in  urging  it  on ; 
but  when  it  broke  over  his  own  household, 
he  turned  and  resisted  it.  Mrs.  Hale  was  so 
IS 


226  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

universally  beloved  and  esteemed,  her  char- 
acter was  so  far  above  reproach,  that  even 
that  frenzied  community  refused  to  believe 
her  guilty.  They  began  to  feel  that  the  ac- 
cusers had  perjured  themselves,  and  from 
that  moment  their  power  was  at  an  end.  At 
Andover,  where  more  than  fifty  were  in 
prison,  the  accused,  taking  advantage  of  the 
turn  of  the  tide,  began  to  bring  suits  for 
slander  against  the  accusers.  There  were 
some  zealots,  of  course,  who  tried  to  keep 
up  the  excitement,  but  they  did  not  succeed. 
The  storm  had  spent  itself.  The  reaction 
had  set  in.  It  was  not  that  people  had 
ceased  to  believe  in  the  reality  of  witchcraft. 
Even  Calef,  the  most  bitter  contemporary 
critic  of  the  trials,  wrote,  a  year  later:  "That 
there  are  witches  is  not  the  doubt.  The 
scriptures  else  were  vain  .  .  .  but  what  this 
witchcraft  is  and  wherein  it  does  consist, 
seems  to  be  the  whole  difficulty."  The 
great  change  deemed  to  be  the  distrust  of 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.    22/ 

spectral  evidence.  When  any  one  had  testi- 
fied that  the  apparition  of  such  and  such  a 
person  had  appeared  to  him  and  had  afflicted 
and  tormented  him,  and  that  he  had  known 
this  apparition  to  commit  murders  and  all 
sorts  of  crimes,  it  was  received  as  evidence. 
It  was  held  that  the  devil  could  not  assume 
the  shape  of  any  person  unless  that  person 
were  willing  and  in  league  with  him.  It  was 
of  no  use  then  for  the  accused  to  prove  that, 
at  the  time  in  question,  he  was  in  an  entirely 
different  place ;  for  the  crime  could  be  com- 
mitted by  his  apparition  as  well  as  by  him- 
self. They  now  began  to  say  that  the  devil 
could  assume  any  shape  he  chose,  even  that 
of  a  perfectly  good  and  innocent  man.  As 
soon  as  spectral  evidence  was  thrown  out, 
the  witch  trials  fell  through. 

In  May,  1693,  Governor  Phipps  issued  a 
proclamation  ordering  the  release  from  prison 
of  all  who  were  held  on  the  charge  of  witch- 
craft "Such  a  jail  delivery  was  never  known 


228  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

in  New  England."  One  hundred  and  fifty 
came  out  of  the  prisons.  To  the  disgrace 
of  the  courts,  only  those  were  released  who 
had  paid  their  board  during  the  entire  time 
of  their  imprisonment,  and  their  jailer's  fees. 
Those  who  had  not  the  means  were  left  to 
languish  in  jail  until  some  one  paid  these 
dues  for  them.  Tituba,  the  Indian  woman, 
was  finally  sold  for  her  fees. 

We  cannot  ascertain  definitely  how  many 
had  suffered  from  the  charge;  for,  besides 
those  who  had  been  put  to  death,  those  who 
had  been  released,  and  those  who  had  been 
left  for  their  fees,  there  were  many  who  were 
out  on  bail,  and  others  who  had  escaped 
from  prison.  Some,  too,  had  fled  from  the 
country,  when  suspicion  was  cast  upon  them, 
without  allowing  themselves  to  be  examined. 
Probably  no  less  than  three  hundred  people 
had  been  definitely  charged  with  witchcraft 
by  that  one  circle  of  girls. 

Those   who   were    released   had    been   for 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.     229 

many  months  in  a  prison  cell,  heavily  chained. 
Their  property  had  been  wasted,  their  fam- 
ilies scattered,  their  health  broken.  Their 
freedom  was  restored  ;  but  what  was  to 
compensate  for  their  ruined  lives  ?  A  few 
years  later  the  General  Court  reversed  the 
attainder  against  those  who  had  been  exe- 
cuted, and  tried  to  make  good  to  their  fam- 
ilies the  losses  suffered.  The  churches  also 
revoked  the  sentences  of  -excommunication. 
In  1697  the  government  appointed  a  public 
fast-day  throughout  the  colony,  to  implore 
the  Lord  to  turn  away  his  anger,  and  not  to 
punish  the  land  for  that  fatal  error.  The 
jurors  who  had  tried  and  convicted  the  ac- 
cused made  a  public  statement,  confessing 
that  they  had  been  "  sadly  deluded  and 
mistaken." 

As  to  the  girls  who  had  originated  the 
horrible  tragedy,  most  of  them  turned  out 
profligates.  Only  one  of  them  —  Ann  Put- 
nam —  ever  made  public  confession  of  her 


230  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

sin;  and  this  confession  was  not  so  humble 
as  it  might  have  been,  considering  the  ruin 
she  had  wrought. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Parris  persisted  in  the  delu- 
sion with  which  his  name  will  forever  be 
associated.  The  people  of  Salem  village 
made  heroic  efforts  to  rid  themselves  of  his 
ministry,  but  he  refused  to  go.  All  the  min- 
isters of  Boston  had  to  be  called  in  before 
the  community  could  be  rid  of  his  presence. 
As  we  think  of  those  who  were  condemned, 
one  thing  must  be  remembered  to  their  ever- 
lasting honor,  — -  namely,  that  confession  at 
any  time  would  have  saved  them.  They 
preferred  to  die  rather  than  to  lie.  Some, 
who  at  first  were,  through  weakness,  per- 
suaded or  terrified  into  a  confession,  after- 
ward voluntarily  took  it  back  and  disowned 
it  before  trial.  "  It  required  great  strength 
of  mind  to  take  back  a  confession;  relin- 
quish life  and  liberty ;  go  down  into  a  dun- 
geon loaded  with  irons;  and  thence  to  ascend 


DELUSIONS  OF  OUR  FOREFATHERS.    2$l 

the  gallows."  Yet  many  a  weak  girl  took 
this  step  rather  than  live  with  that  terrible 
lie  on  her  soul. 

And  the  people  who  were  carried  away 
with  this  weird  tide  of  fanaticism,  —  can  we 
realize  how  the  loneliness  of  their  surround- 
ings, the  isolation  of  their  lives,  the  dangers 
with  which  they  were  beset,  and  the  hard- 
ships they  had  to  endure,  formed  their  minds, 
and  made  them  a  suitable  prey  for  gloomy 
fancies  and  morbid  superstitions?  In  the 
history  of  this  panic  is  there  any  resemblance 
to  the  action  of  mobs  in  our  own  day?  It  is 
easy  to  stand  upon  a  pinnacle  of  superiority 
and  look  down  with  a  pitying  smile  upon  the 
delusions  of  our  forefathers ;  but,  after  all, 
are  we  free  enough  from  superstition,  pas- 
sion, and  prejudice  to  pass  judgment  upon 
them? 


A   GROUP   OF   PURITAN   POETS. 

r  I  ^O  most  of  us  the  words  Puritan  and 
poet  seem  antagonistic,  —  the. one  a 
contradiction  of  the  other.  The  traditional 
Puritan  is  a  long-faced,  sour-visaged  man, 
clad  in  sad-colored  garments.  He  sternly 
represses  in  himself,  and  in  those  about  him, 
all  expression  of  natural  affection,  all  long- 
ing for  the  beautiful,  all  desire  for  enjoyment 
and  pleasure.  Macaulay  tells  us  that  the  Pu- 
ritan hated  bear-baiting,  not  because  it  gave 
pain  to  the  bears,  but  because  it  gave  pleas- 
ure to  the  spectators.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago  the  poet,  Freneau,  expressed  the 
popular  idea  of  the  Puritan :  — 

. "  There  exiles  were  formed  in  a  whimsical  mould 
And  were  awed  by  their  priests  like  the  Hebrews  of 

old, 

Disclaimed  all  pretenses  to  jesting  and  laughter, 
And  sighed  their  lives  through  to  be  happy  hereafter. 

235 


236  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

On  a  crown  immaterial  their  thoughts  were  intent, 
They  looked  toward  Zion  where-ever  they  went, 
Did  all  things  in  hope  of  a  future  reward, 
And  worried  mankind — for  the  sake  of  the  Lord." 

Hawthorne  describes  the  Puritan  children 
playing  on  the  doorstep  in  such  grim  fash- 
ion as  their  training  would  permit,  —  playing 
at  going  to  church,  or  at  scourging  Quakers, 
or  at  fighting  Indians,  or  at  taking  witches. 
In  short,  all  our  ideas  of  the  Puritan  combine 
to  suggest  a  life  of  repression  and  gloom. 
We  sometimes  fear  that  we  have  inherited 
from  them  a  sort  of  vague  and  undefined  be- 
lief that  "  if  you  are  good  you  will  be  happy, 
but  you  won't  have  a  good  time." 

Was  there  any  place  for  poetry  on  this 
sombre  background?  What  is  poetry  with- 
out the  idea  of  the  beautiful,  without  the  nat- 
ural emotions  of  the  heart?  Had  the  Puritan 
then  no  heart?  Had  he  no  warm  human 
blood  ?  If  you  want  to  know  the  real  Puri- 
tan without  his  shell,  turn  away  from  those 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.        237 

musty  volumes  of  sermons,  which  it  would 
require  "  a  long  life,  implicit  faith,  and  more 
than  the  patienqe  of  Job  "  to  read  through, 
and  study  rather  the  quaint  old  diaries  and 
the  letters  of  these  men  who  crossed  the 
ocean  for  the  sake  of  their  convictions. 
Read,  for  instance,  this  farewell  letter,  written 
by  Governor  Winthrop  to  the  wife  whom  he 
was  leaving  behind  in  England  until  he  could 
prepare  a  home  for  her  in  the  wilderness :  — 

"  And  now  (my  sweet  soul)  I  must  once  again  take 
my  last  fare-well  of  thee  in  Old  England.  It  goeth 
very  near  to  my  heart  to  leave  thee;  but  I  know  to 
whom  I  have  committed  thee,  even  to  Him  who  loves 
thee  much  better  than  any  husband  can,  who  hath 
taken  account  of  the  hairs  of  thy  head,  and  puts  all 
thy  tears  in  his  bottle,  who  can  and  (if  it  be  for  his 
glory)  will,  bring  us  together  again  with  peace  and 
comfort.  Oh,  how  it  refresheth  my  heart,  to  think 
that  I  shall  yet  again  see  thy  sweet  face  in  the  land 
of  the  living!  —  that  lovely  countenance,  that  I  have 
so  much  delighted  in,  and  beheld  with  so  great  con- 
tent! I  have  hitherto  been  so  taken  up  with  business, 
as  I  could  seldom  look  back  to  my  former  happiness; 
but  now,  when  I  shall  be  at  some  leisure,  I  shall  not 


238  OLD    COLONY  DAYS. 

avoid  the  remembrance  of  thee,  nor  the  grief  for  thy 
absence.  Thou  hast  thy  share  with  me,  but  I  hope 
the  course  we  have  agreed  upon  will  be  some  ease 
to  us  both.  Mondays  and  Fridays,  at  five  of  the  clock 
at  night,  we  shall  meet  in  spirit  till  we  meet  in  person. 
Yet,  if  all  these  hopes  should  fail,  blessed  be  our  God, 
that  we  are  assured  we  shall  meet  one  day,  if  not  as 
husband  and  wife,  yet  in  a  better  condition.  Let  that 
stay  and  comfort  thy  heart.  Neither  can  the  sea 
drown  thy  husband,  nor  enemies  destroy,  nor  any 
adversity  deprive  thee  of  thy  husband  or  children. 
Therefore  I  will  only  take  thee  now  and  my  sweet 
children  in  mine  arms,  and  kiss  and  embrace  you  all, 
and  so  leave  you  with  my  God.  Fare-well,  fare-well. 
I  bless  you  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Can  any  woman  of  the  present  day  show 
a  more  tender  love-letter?  More  demonstra- 
tive ones  we  may  find,  perhaps,  more  full  of 
extravagant  expressions,  but  none  that  show 
a  warmer,  truer  heart.  Indeed,  the  more 
closely  we  study  the  Puritan,  the  more  hu- 
man we  find  him.  There  is  plenty  of  evi- 
dence that  he  had  a  heart,  though  it  may 
have  been  sometimes  overshadowed  by  his 
conscience.  The  greatest  fault  of  the  Puri- 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         239 

tan  seems  to  have  been  an  excess  of  earnest- 
ness. He  was  so  terribly  in  earnest  in  his 
beliefs  and  purposes  that  he  had  no  time  to 
make  life  pleasant  and  easy  for  himself  or  his 
family.  Lowell  has  summed  up  the  Puritan's 
creed  in  three  points,  —  "  faith  in  God,  faith 
in  man,  and  faith  in  work."  He  might  also 
have  added,  faith  in  the  devil;  for  it  was  his 
firm  belief  in  the  ever-present  activity  and 
enmity  of  the  devil  that  accounted  for  his 
austerity.  It  was  not  from  hardness  of  heart 
that  he  tried  to  repress  all  worldly  instincts 
in  his  children,  but  from  a  watchful  and 
jealous  love  which  would -save  them,  in  spite 
of  themselves,  from  the  grasp  of  Satan. 

The  Puritan  prejudice  against  art  and 
against  beauty  was  also  a  matter  of  con- 
science. It  was  the  natural  reaction  against 
the  beauty  worship  of  the  Renaissance.  On 
the  one  hand  were  the  immorality  and  the 
paganizing  tendencies  of  the  Renaissance,  on 
the  other,  the  Catholic  reverence  for  paintings 


240  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

and  shrines  and  grand  cathedrals.  In  his 
intense  desire  to  escape  these  two  dangers, 
the  Puritan  had  really  come  to  believe  that 
the  Lord  loved  angles  better  than  curves, 
and  that  ugliness  was  more  pleasing  in  his 
sight  than  beauty.  Painting  and  sculpture 
and  architecture,  then,  were  not  for  him. 
There  remained  only  poetry  and  music,  and 
these  with  certain  limitations.  Dramatic  po- 
etry, the  writings  of  Shakespeare  and  his 
brother  playwrights  and  actors,  must  be 
passed  by  as  temptations  of  the  evil  one. 
There  was  left  only  the  metaphysical  school, 
with  its  curious  quirks  and  conceits  and  plays 
upon  words.  As  to  music,  —  the  instrumental 
music  used  in  church  worship  in  the  old 
cduntry  "  savored  of  popery."  It  was  a  part 
of  the  "bare  and  beggarly  ceremonies"  which 
they  had  sought  to  escape.  We  may  judge 
what  they  thought  of  choirs  from  Puritan 
Prynnes'  description  of  them :  "  Choirsters 
bellow  the  tenor  as  it  were  oxen;  bark  a 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         241 

counterpart  as  it  were  a  kennel  of  dogs; 
roar  out  a  treble  as  it  were  a  sort  of  bulls; 
and  grunt  a  bass,  as  it  were  a  number  of 
hogs." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  field  allowed  to  the 
Puritan  poet  was  a  very  narrow  one  indeed. 
Yet  the  desire  for  poetic  expression  must  be 
a  natural  instinct  of  the  human  heart;  for,  in 
spite  of  all  these  restrictions  and  prejudices, 
the  Puritans  wrote  verses  by  the  hundred,  — 
not  a  poem  now  and  then,  but  quires  of 
them,  reams  of  them,  miles  of  them.  Not  an 
isolated  genius  here  and  there,  breaking  out 
irrepressibly  into  song,  but  every  one  — 
preachers,  governors,  artisans  —  found  vent 
in  rhyme.  It  was  said  of  John  Wilson,  the 
first  pastor  of  Boston,  that  he  had  so  nimble 
a  faculty  of  putting  his  devout  thoughts 
into  verse,  that  he  signalized  himself  by 
sending  poem's  to  all  persons,  in  all  places, 
on  all  occasions,  wherein  the  curious  rel- 
ished the  piety,  sometimes,  rather  than  the 
16 


242  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

poetry.      His    epitaph    commends    to    after 
ages,  — 

"  His  care  to  guide  his  flock  and  feed  his  lambs, 
By  words,  works,  prayers,  psalms,  alms,  and  ana- 
grams." 

The  first  considerable  collection  of  poetry 
of  the  forefathers  was  that  poetic  prodigy, 
that  metrical  monstrosity  known  as  the  "  Bay 
Psalm  Book,"  which  enjoys  the  distinction  of 
being  the  first  book  published  in  New  Eng- 
land. The  Pilgrims  had  brought  from  Hol- 
land a  few  copies  of  Ainsworth's  version  of 
the  Psalms ;  but  it  was  not  adopted  by  other 
churches  because  the  tunes  were  too  difficult, 
and  because  it  did  not  contain  all  the  psalms. 
The  Puritans  had  brought  some  copies  of 
Sternhold  and  Hopkin's  version;  but  this 
was  objectionable  for  the  reason  that  it  was 
used  in  the  Church  of  England,  and  also 
because  it  was  not  literal  enough.  They  de- 
cided to  have  a  version  of  their  own  for  use 
in  the  churches,  and  appointed  a  committes 


A   GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         243 

to  prepare  it,  consisting  of  the  "  chiefest  di- 
vines of  the  country."  It  seems  appropriate 
that  the  first  book  printed  in  Massachusetts 
should  be  a  psalm  book.  It  was  printed  in 
Cambridge  in  1640,  and  was  used  by  the  New 
England  churches  for  more  than  a  century. 
The  titlepage  is  as  follows :  — 

"The  Whole  Book  of  Psalmes  Faithfully  Trans- 
lated into  English  Metre.  Whereunto  is  prefixed  a 
discourse  declaring  not  only  the  lawfulness,  but  also 
the  necessity  of  the  Heavenly  Ordinance  of  Singing 
Psalmes  in  the  Churches  of  God. 

Coll.  III.  Let  the  word  of  God  dwell  plenteously 
in  you  in  all  wisdome,  teaching  and  exhorting  one 
another  in  Psalmes,  Himnes,  and  spiritual!  Songs, 
singing  to  the  Lord  with  grace  in  your  hearts. 

James  V.  If  any  be  afflicted,  let  him  pray ;  and 
if  any  be  merry  let  him  sing  psalmes." 

The  words,  "  for  the  Use  Edification  and 
Comfort  of  the  saints,  in  Public  and  Private, 
especially  in  New  England,"  were  added  to 
the  second  edition.  The  book  was  sung 
through  in  course,  beginning  with  the  first 
psalm ;  and  when  the  end  was  reached,  they 


244  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

went  back  to  the  first  again.  There  was  no 
thought  of  adapting  the  psalm  to  the  sermon. 
Eight  tunes  were  used  for  the  whole  book,  — 
namely,  Oxford,  Litchfield,  Low  Dutch,  York, 
Windsor,  Cambridge,  Saint  David's,  and  Mar- 
tyrs. Since  there  were  only  a  few  in  each 
congregation  who  were  able  to  own  the  book, 
the  deacon  "  lined  the  psalm."  This  some- 
times made  queer  breaks  in  the  meaning  of 
the  words.  For  instance,  the  deacon  would 
read:  "The  Lord  will  come  and  he  will  not," 
and  the  people  would  sing,  and  then  pause 
for  the  second  line, — "keep  silence  but  speak 
out."  There  was  much  discussion  at  first  as 
to  whether  the  men  only  should  sing,  and  not 
the  women.  "Because  it  is  not  permitted  to  a 
woman  to  speak  in  the  church,  how  then  shall 
they  sing?  Much  less  is  it  permitted  them  to 
prophecy  in  the  church  and  singing  of  psalms 
is  a  kind  of  prophecying."  The  Rev.  John 
Cotton  answered  these  objections,  and  the 
women  sang.  Some  of  the  psalms  were  one 


A   GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         245 

hundred  and  thirty  lines  long;  and  the  lining 
and  the  singing  occupied  a  full  half  hour, 
the  congregation  standing  meanwhile.  Yet 
Judge  Sewall,  in  his  diary,  frequently  makes 
"  Humbell  acknowledgement  to  God  of  the 
great  comfort  and  merciful  kindness  received 
through  singing  his  psalms." 

Having  seen  how  the  Puritans  sang,  let  us 
look  at  what  they  sang,  —  the  metrical  and 
poetical  translations  produced  by  their  "  chief 
divines."  Here  is  a  part  of  the  fifty-eighth 
psalm :  — 

"  The  wicked  are  estranged  from 

the  womb,  they  goe  astray 
as  soon  as  ever  they  are  borne; 
uttering  lyes  are  they. 

"  Their  poyson  's  like  serpent's  poyson. 

They  like  deafe  Aspe,  her  eare 
that  stops.     Thuough  charmer  wisely  charme 
his  voice  she  will  not  heare. 

"Within^their  mouth  doe  thou  their  teeth 

break  out,  O  God  most  strong, 
doe  thou  Jehovah,  the  great  teeth 
break  of  the  lion's  young." 


246  OLD  COLONY  DA  VS. 

A  verse  of  the  fifty-first  psalm  will  illustrate 
the  good  men's  struggles  for  rhyme :  — 

"  Create  in  me  clean  heart  at  last  God : 
A  right  spirit  in  me  new  make. 
Nor  from  thy  presence  quite  me  cast, 
thy  holy  spright  not  from  me  take." 

But,  for  both  metre  and  rhyme,  their  crown- 
ing effort  was  the  rendering  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-third  psalm :  — 

"  i.    How  good  and  sweet  to  see 

i  'ts  for  bretheren  to  dwell 
together  in  unitee : 

"2.    Its  like  choice  oyle  that  fell 
the  head  upon 
that  down  did  flow 
the  beard  unto 
beard  of  Aron : 
The  skirts  of  his  garment 
that  unto  him  went  down: 

"3.   Like  Hermons  dews  descent 
Sions  mountains  upon 
for  there  to  bee 
the  Lords  blessing 
Life  aye  lasting 
commandeth  hee." 


A    GROUP  Of  PURITAN  POETS.         247 

From  the  rhythm  of  this  we  can  understand 
some  of  Judge  Sewall's  difficulties  in  setting 
the  tune.  "  He  spake  to  me  to  set  the  tune," 
he  records.  "  I  intended  Windsor  and  fell 
into  High  Dutch,  and  then  essaying  another 
tune  went  into  a  key  much  too  high.  So  I 
prayed  Mr.  White  to  set  the  tune  which  he  did 
well.  Litchfield."  Again  he  writes :  "  I  set 
York  tune  and  the  congregation  went  out  of 
it  into  St.  David's  in  the  very  2d  going  over." 
Another  time  he  set  Windsor  tune,  and  they 
"  ran  over  into  Oxford  do  what  I  would." 

Bound  up  in  the  back  of  the  third  edition 
of  the  psalm-book  were  some  scripture  songs 
from  other  parts  of  tne  Bible.  Here  is  a  por- 
tion of  the  song  of  Deborah  and  Barak:  — 

"  24  Jael  the  Kenite  Hebers  wife 

'bove  women  blest  shall  be : 
Above  the  women  in  the  tent 
a  blessed  one  is  she. 

25  He  water  ask'd:  she  gave  him  milk 

him  butter  forth  she  fetch'd 

26  In  Lordly  dish  :  then  to  the  nail 

she  forth  her  left  hand  stretched. 


248  OLD   COLONY  DA  VS. 

"  Her  right  the  workman's  hammer  held 

and  Sisera  struck  dead : 
She  pierced  and  struck  his  temple  through 

and  then  smote  off  his  head. 
27   He  at  her  feet  bow'd,  fell,  lay  down 

•he  at  her  feet  bqw'd,  where 
He  fell :  Ev'n  where  he  bowed  down 
he  fell  destroyed  there." 

Whenever  Judge  Sewall  attended  a  wed- 
ding, he  was  accustomed  to  carry  as  a  bridal 
gift  a  copy  of  this  psalm-book,  and  to  sing 
from  it,  to  the  gloomy  tune  of  Windsor,  the 
hymn  known  as  "  Myrrh  Aloes  " :  — 

"8    Myrrh  Aloes  and  Cassias  smell 

all  of  thy  garments  had 
out  of  the  yvory  pallaces 

whereby  they  made  thee  glad : 

"  9    Amongst  thine  honorable  maids 
kings  daughters  present  were 
The  Queen  is  set  at  thy  right  hand 
in  fine  gold  of  Ophir." 

He  then   presented  the  book  to  the  bride- 
groom with  words  like  these :  — 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         249 

"  I  give  you  this  Psalm  Book  in  order  to  your  per- 
petuating this  Song;  and  I  would  have  you  pray  that 
it  may  be  an  introduction  to  our  Singing  with  the 
Choir  above." 

The  Puritans  had  been  singing  the  psalms 
to  their  eight  tunes  for  about  ten  years,  when 
the  poems  of  Anne  Bradstreet  appeared. 
What  wonder  that  the  unhappy  New  Eng- 
landers  hailed  her  with  delight  as  the  "  Tenth 
Muse ; "  for  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  first  professional  poet  of  New  England 
was  a  woman.  She  was,  too,  a  Puritan  of 
the  Puritans.  The  daughter  of  that  austere 
old  Puritan,  Gov.  Thomas  Dudley,  and  the 
wife  of  the  equally  strict,  but  less  stern  Puri- 
tan, Simon  Bradstreet,  she  had  known  from 
her  childhood  no  other  influence.  In  1630 
she  came,  a  young  bride  in  her  "  teens,"  to 
America;  and  most  of  her  poems  were  writ- 
ten during  the  first  ten  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness. But  they  do  not  tell  us  what  we 
should  so  much  like  to  know,  —  her  impres- 
sions of  this  strange  New  World,  her  hard- 


250  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

ships,  trials,  and  adventures  in  it.  Her  pen 
does  not  deal  with  any  such  common,  every- 
day subjects,  but  seeks  far  more  ambitious 
themes,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
elaborate  titlepage  prefixed  by  her  friends 
to  the  first  edition  of  her  poems  :  — 

"THE  TENTH  MUSE  —  Lately  sprung  up  in  America. 

or  Severall   Poems,  compiled  with  great 

variety  of  Wit  and  Learning,  full  of  delight.    Wherein 

especially    is   contained   a   complete    discourse    and 

description  of 

f  Elements 

Constitutions 
The  Four  \ 

I  Ages  of  Man 

t  Seasons  of  the  year. 

Together  with  an  Exact  Epitomie  of  the  Four  Mon- 
archies, viz. 

T  Assyrian, 


The 

Grecian, 

I  Roman. 

Also  a  Dialogue  between  Old  England  and  New,  con- 
cerning the  late  troubles.  With  divers  other  pleasant 
and  serious  Poems.  By  a  Gentlewoman  in  those 
parts.  Printed  at  London  for  Stephen  Bowtell  at  the 
signe  of  the  Bible  in  Popes  Head-Alley.  1650." 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS         25  I 

A  preface,  written  by  a  masculine  hand, 
commends  the  book  and  prophesies  that 
men  will  envy  the  excellency  of  the  inferior 
sex,  and  will  even  question  whether  it  be  a 
woman's  work,  and  ask,  — 

"  Is  it  possible  ?  If  any  do,  take  this  as  an  answer 
from  him  that  dares  avow  it;  it  is  the  Work  of  a 
Woman,  honoured  and  esteemed  where  she  lives,  for 
her  gracious  demeanour,  her  eminent  parts,  her  pious 
conversation,  her  courteous  disposition,  her  exact  dili- 
gence in  her  place,  and  discreet  managing  of  her  Fam- 
ily occasions,  and  more  then  so,  these  Poems  are  the 
fruit  but  of  some  few  houres,  curtailed  from  her  sleep 
and  other  refreshments." 

Following  the  preface  were  a  number  of 
poetic  eulogies  from  prominent  clergymen 
who  had  read  the  poems  in  manuscript. 
John  Rogers  informs  her  that  twice  he  has 
drunk  the  nectar  of  her  lines,  and  speaks  of 
"  weltring  in  delight."  Another  writes :  — 

"  I  Ve  read  your  Poem  (Lady)  and  admire, 
Your  Sex  to  such  a  pitch  should  e'er  aspire; 
Go  on  to  write,  continue  to  relate, 
New  Historyes,  of  Monarchy  and  State. 


252  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

And  what  the  Romans  to  their  Poets  gave 
Be  sure  such  honour  and  esteem  you  '1  have." 

And  another  still :  - 

"  Twere  extream  folly  should  I  dare  attempt, 
To  praise  this  Author's  worth  with  complement ; 
None  but  her  self  must  dare  commend  her  parts, 
Whose  sublime  brain 's  the  Synopsis  of  Arts. 
Nature  and  skill,  here  both  in  one  agree, 
To  frame  this  Master-piece  of  Poetry: 
False  Fame,  belye  their  Sex  no  more,  it  can 
Surpass,  or  parallel  the  best  of  Man." 

The  Rev.  Nathaniel  Ward,  of  Ipswich,  who 

had  small  esteem  for  women,  wrote :  — 

i 
"  It  half  revives  my  chil  frost-bitten  blood, 

To  see  a  Woman  once,  do  aught  that 's  good ; 
And  chode  by  Chaucers  Boots,  and  Homers  Furrs 
Let  Men  look  to  't,  least  Women  wear  the  Spurrs." 

Anne  herself,  in  her  prologue,  forestalls 
those  who  might  object  to  a  woman's  wield- 
ing a  pen : — 

"  I  am  obnoxious  to  each  carping  tongue 
Who  says  my  hand  a  needle  better  fits, 
A  Poets  pen  all  scorn  I  thus  should  wrong, 
For  such  despite  they  cast  on  Female  wits: 
If  what  I  do  prove  well,  it  won't  advance, 
They'l  say  it's  stoln,  or  else  it  was  by  chance." 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         253 

We  are  now  ready  for  the  poems  themselves. 
They  are  divided,  as  we  have  seen  from  the 
titlepage,  into  quaternions.  The  first  group 
considers  the  four  elements  —  Fire,  Earth, 
Air,  and  Water  —  represented  as  four  per- 
sonages who  have  met  together,  and  are 
quarrelling  for  the  precedence,  each  glorify- 
ing his  own  deeds  and  belittling  the  others. 
Fire  stands  forth  and  recounts  her  services  to 
mankind,  —  how  she  has  framed  his  tools, 
forged  his  weapons,  cast  his  pots  and  kettles, 
cooked  his  food  and  warmed  his  limbs.  She 
then  describes  her  powers,  —  how  she  has 
destroyed  cities  and  turned  castles  to  cinders, 
—  speaks  of  the  terrors  of  her  volcanoes,  and 
concludes :  — 

"  What  shall  I  say  of  Lightning  and  of  Thunder 
Which  Kings  and  mighty  ones  amaze  with  wonder, 
Which   make  a   Caesar  (Romes)  the  worlds  proud 

head, 

Foolish  Caligula  creep  under  's  bed. 
And  in  a  word,  the  world  I  shall  consume 
And  all  therein  at  that  great  day  of  Doom.'? 


254  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Fire  sits  down  satisfied,  and  Earth  arises 
to  make  her  plea.  She  describes  at  great 
length  her  mountains,  hills,  and  dales,  her 
fruits  and  flowers,  the  many  commodities  she 
produces  for  man,  and,  like  Fire,  concludes 
her  bragging  with  a  threat :  — 

"  I  'le  say  no  more,  but  this  thing  add  I  must 
Remember  Sons,  your  mould  is  of  my  dust 
And  after  death  whether  interr'd  or  burn'd 
As  Earth  at  first  so  into  Earth  return'd." 

Water  angrily  takes  her  place.  She  men- 
tions proudly  her  fountains,  rivers,  lakes,  and 
ponds,  her  sundry  seas,  —  black  and  white,  — 
her  curative  springs,  her  tides,  her  dews, 
concluding  with  a  reference  to  the  flood, 
when  "  wholly  perish'd  Earths  ignoble 
race."  Then  Air,  calm  and  placid,  takes 
her  stand :  — 

"  I  do  suppose  you'l  yield  without  controul, 
I  am  the  breath  of  every  living  soul." 

Air  goes  on  to  show  that  words  are  but  wind ; 
the  sound  of  drums,  trumpets,  and  organs 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         255 

are  but  forced  air;  also  the  report  of  the  gun 
and  your  songs  and  pleasant  tunes, — they  are 
the  same.  Air  fills  the  bellows  of  the  smith 
and  the  sails  of  the  mariner,  and  so  on." 

After  the  four  elements  come  the  four  ages 
of  man. 

"  What  gripes  of  wind  mine  infancy  did  pain, 
What  tortures  I  in  breeding  teeth  sustain?  " 

sings  the  first  age  of  man;  and  the  afflicted 
third  age  cries :  — 

"  The  Cramp  and  Gout  doth  sadly  torture  me, 
And  the  restraining  lame  Sciatica. 
The  Astma,  Megrim,  Palsy,  Lethagrie, 
The  quartan  Ague,  dropsy,  Lunacy." 

The  third  quaternion  is  a  dialogue  between 
the  four  seasons,  each  of  which  sings  her 
own  praises.  Spring  tells  of  her  months,  — 
March,  April,  May.  In  May,  — 

"  The  Sun  now  enters  loving  Gemini, 
And  heats  us  with  the  glances  of  his  eye. 
Our  thicker  raiment  makes  us  lay  aside 
Lest  by  his  fervor  we  be  torrifi'd. 


256  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

Now  swarms  the  busy,  witty,  honey-Bee, 
Whose  praise  deserves  a  page  from  more  than  me 
The  cleanly  Huswifes  Dary's  now  in  th"  prime, 
Her  shelves  and  firkins  fill'd  for  winter  time." 

Summer  appears,  "  Wiping  the  sweat  from 
off  her  face  that  ran,"  and  recounts  her  treas- 
ures. Autumn  brings  her  vintage :  — 

"  Beaf,  Brawn,  and  Pork  are  now  in  great  request, 
And  solid  meats  our  stomacks  can  digest. 
This  time  warm  cloaths,  full  diet  and  good  fires, 
Our  pinched  flesh,  and  hungry  mawes  requires : 
Old,  cold,  dry  Age,  and  Earth  Autumn  resembles, 
And  Melancholy  which  most  of  all  dissembles. 

"  Cold,  moist,  young  flegmy  winter  now  doth  lye 
In  swadling  Clouts,  like  new  born  Infancy. 

"  Cold  frozen  January  next  comes  in, 
Chilling  the  blood  and  shrinking  up  the  skin ; 
The  day  much  longer  than  it  was  before, 
The  cold  not  lessened,  but  augmented  more. 
Now  Toes  and  Ears,  and  Fingers  often  freeze, 
And  Travelers  their  noses  sometimes  leese." 

The  poem  on  "  The  Four  Monarchies  "  is 
simply  a  rhymed  version  of  Raleigh's  "  His- 
tory of  the  World."  Tedious  reading  it  would 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         257 

prove  now,  but  in  its  day  it  was  received  with 
enthusiasm.  This  was  useful  poetry,  with 
nothing  trivial  or  frivolous  about  it,  —  no 
poetic  fiction  either,  but  good  hard  facts. 
In  the  poem  about  Queen  Elizabeth  Mrs. 
Bradstreet  once  more  takes  up  the  cudgels  in 
defence  of  women:  — 

"  She  hath  wip'd  off  th'  aspersion  of  her  Sex 
That  women  wisdome  lack  to  play  the  Rex. 

Now  say,  have  women  worth  ?  or  have  they  none  ? 
Or  had  they  some,  but  with  our  queen  is  't  gone? 
Nay  Masculines,  you  have  thus  tax'd  us  long; 
But  she,  though  dead,  will  vindicate  our  wrong. 
Let  such  as  say  our  Sex  is  void  of  Reason, 
Know  tis  Slander  now  but  once  was  Treason." 

When  Anne  Bradstreet  died,  great  was  the 
mourning  all  over  New  England.  Sermons 
were  preached  in  all  the  churches,  and  fu- 
neral elegies  by  the  score  poured  in  upon 
the  family.  A  few  lines  from  the  one  writ- 
ten by  the  Rev.  John  Norton  may  serve 
as  a  sample  of  the  manner  and  method 
of  all :  - 


258  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

"  A  Funeral  Elogy,  upon  that  Pattern  and  Patron  of 
Virtue,  the  truly  pious,  peerless  and  matchless  Gentle- 
woman 

Mrs.  Anne  Bradstreet,  right  Panaretes, 
Mirror  of  her  Age,  Glory  of  her  Sex,  whose  Heaven- 
born-Soul  leaving  its  earthly  Shrine,  chose  its  native 
home,  and  was  taken  to  its  Rest,  upon  the  i6th  Sept. 
1672. 

"  Ask  not  why  hearts  turn  Magazines  of  passions, 
And  why  that  grief  is  clad  in  sev'ral  fashions. 
Ask  not  why  some  in  mournfull  black  are  clad ; 
The  Sun  is  set,  there  needs  must  be  a  shade. 
Some  do  for  anguish  weep,  for  anger  I 
That  Ignorance  should  live,  and  Art  should  die. 
Black,  fatal,  dismal,  inauspicious  day, 
Unblest  forever  by  Sol's  precious  Ray,"  etc.,  etc. 

There  are  four  hundred  pages  of  Anne 
Bradstreet's  poems ;  and  though  a  great  deal 
of  it  is  rubbish,  there  is,  now  and  then,  an 
ingot  which  sfiows  that  she  had  really  the 
poetic  endowment.  We  can  but  regret  that 
instead  of  singing  the  elements  and  the 
ancient  monarchies,  she  did  not  turn  the  at- 
tention of  her  muse  to  the  life  about  her,  to 
the  strange  new  experience  through  which 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS. 


she  was  passing,  and  to  the  feelings  that 
stirred  within  her  own  heart.  What  would 
we  not  give  for  a  woman's  view  of  those 
days  ? 

Next  to  Anne  Bradstreet  in  our  colonial 
literature  comes  a  name  which  was,  for  more 
than  a  hundred  years,  a  household  word 
in  New  England,  —  the  name  of  Michael 
Wigglesworth,  whom  we  must  consider  as 
the  Puritan  Dante,  or  rather  the  New  Eng- 
land Dante.  If  Taine  called  "  Paradise 
Lost  "  the  "  epic  of  damnation  and  grace  " 
what  would  he  say  of  Wigglesworth's  "  Day 
of  Doom  "  ?  He  might  truly  call  it  the  dog- 
gerel of  "  damnation  and  grace."  And  yet 
the  man  had  no  thought  of  producing  any- 
thing humorous  or  amusing.  He  was  as 
sadly  in  earnest  in  warning  his  generation 
as  was  Dante  himself  when  he  made  his  pil- 
grimage through  the  three  worlds  of  the 
dead.  Wigglesworth  was  the  faithful  and 
beloved  pastor  of  the  church  at  Maiden  for 


26O  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

over  fifty  years.  And,  although  himself  a 
"  frail  feeble  shadow  of  a  man,"  as  Cotton 
Mather  calls  him,  he  was  at  the  same  time 
their  physician,  healing  the  body  as  well  as 
the  soul.  When  ill  health  compelled  him, 
for  a  while,  to  lay  aside  his  work,  he  em- 
ployed his  time  in  an  attempt  to  embody  his 
teachings  in  poetic  form,  in  order  to  reach  a 
wider  audience.  The  result  was  that  remark- 
able book,  the  "Day  of  Doom." 

In  order  properly  to  estimate  this  singular 
book,  we  must  endeavor  to  place  ourselves, 
for  a  time,  in  the  atmosphere  in  which  it  was 
created.  We  must  go  back  two  hundred 
years  and  picture  to  ourselves  the  weak  com- 
munity, not  a  nation,  not  even  a  state,  but  a 
few  small  detached  villages,  always  in  dan- 
ger from  the  Indians,  and  relying  constantly 
on  the  Lord  for  protection.  They  believed 
themselves  the  chosen  people  of  God,  as 
much  as  ever  the  Israelites  did,  trying  to  gov- 
ern their  little  body  according  to  God's  will, 


A  GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         26 1 

basing  their  laws  on  the  Old  Testament  and 
giving  a  text  for  every  law.  They  were  made 
more  rigid  and  more  careful  in  their  life  by 
the  reports  which  continually  reached  them 
of  the  gross  immorality  that  was  rife  in  Eng- 
land during  the  reign  of  the  Merry  Monarch, 
Charles  II.  At  every  fresh  scandal,  the 
Puritan  drew  his  creed  more  tightly  about 
him  and  watched  more  jealously  over  those 
entrusted  to  his  care.  And,  stern  though  it 
seems  to  us,  the  sentence  which  condemned 
Hester  Prynne  to  stand  in  the  market-place 
and  to  wear  the  "  Scarlet  Letter  "  as  a  warn- 
ing to  other  women,  was  kindness  itself 
compared  to  the  cruelty  of  the  sentiment 
prevailing  in  London,  that  every  woman  was 
the  natural  prey  of  the  man  who  looked 
upon  her.  To  understand  the  high  ideal  of 
the  Puritans  we  have  only  to  compare  the 
diary  of  Judge  Sewall  with  that  of  Pepys, 
both  written  at  the  same  time.  The  one  in- 
spired by  "plain  living  and  high  thinking," 


262  OLD  COLONY  DAYS. 

the  other  by  high  living  and  no  thinking. 
Mindful  of  all  the  sin  and  danger  there  was 
in  the  world,  the  Puritan's  aim  was  not  to 
make  the  world  happy,  but  to  get  safely 
through  it  and  into  the  next  one.  Colman's 
words  on  Cotton  Mather  were  true  of  almost 
every  one.  "  Of  death  and  eternity  he  was 
ever  speaking  with  pleasure  and  desire."  It 
is  to  be  remembered  that  theology  and  argu- 
ment were  their  daily  food  and  that  they 
were  firm  in  the  faith  that  their  belief  was 
the  only  safe  one.  It  is  sad  to  read  that 
even  this  chosen  community,  which  made  it 
the  object  of  life  to  keep  in  the  right  way, 
was  beset  with  "  82  pestilent  heresies." 
When  we  remember  all  these  things  and  try 
to  surround  ourselves  with  that  atmosphere 
of  the  olden  time,  we  can  understand  that 
Michael  Wigglesworth  meant  his  "Day  of 
Doom"  not  as  a  sulphurous  denunciation 
of  the  wicked,  but  as  a  solemn  warning  to 
those  for  whom  he  was  responsible. 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         263 

The  poem  is  called  "  The  Day  of  Doom ; 
or  a  Poetical  Description  of  the  Great  and 
Last  Judgement."  It  opens  with  a  picture 
of  the  heedlessness  and  indifference  of  the 
world  just  before  the  Judgment. 

"  Still  was  the  night,  serene  and  bright, 

When  all  Men  sleeping  lay ; 
Calm  was  the  Season,  and  carnal  Reason 
thought  so  'twould  last  for  aye. 

"4  They  put  away  the  evil  day, 

and  drown'd  their  cares  and  fears, 
Till  drown'd  were  they,  and  swept  away 

by  vengeance  unawares ; 
So  at  the  last,  while  men  sleep  fast 

in  their  security, 
Surpris'd  they  are  in  such  a  snare 

as  cometh  suddenly." 

The   Day   of  Doom   suddenly   bursts    upon 
this   sleenincr   world 


this  sleeping  world 


"  5  For  at  midnight  break  forth  a  Light, 

which  turn'd  the  night  to  day, 
And  speedily  an  hideous  cry 
did  all  the  world  dismay. 


264  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

Sinners  awake,  their  hearts  do  ake, 
trembling  their  loines  surprizeth ; 

Amaz'd  with  fear,  by  what  they  hear, 
each  one  of  them  ariseth. 

"  6  They  rush  from  Beds  with  giddy  heads, 

and  to  their  windows  run, 
Viewing  this  light,  which  shines  more  bright 
than  doth  the  Noon-day  Sun." 

Christ,  the  Judge,  appears  with  his  train. 

"  10  No  heart  so  bold,  but  now  grows  cold 

and  almost  dead  with  fear : 

No  eye  so  dry,  but  now  can  cry, 

and  pour  out  many  a  tear." 

In  their  terror  some  hide  themselves  in 
caves,  some  leap  into  the  sea,  and  others  flee 
to  the  mountains  to  escape  the  dread  pres- 
ence. The  mountains  smoke,  the  sea  roars, 
the  earth  is  rent  and  torn.  The  trump  is 
sounded;  the  dead  arise  from  their  graves, 
the  living  are  brought  out  of  their  hiding 
places,  and  all  are  taken  before  the  judgment 
seat  The  sheep  are  separated  from  the 
goats  and  placed  at  His  right  hand. 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         265 

"27  At  Christ's  left  hand  the  Goats  do  stand, 

all  whining  hypocrites, 

Who  for  self-ends  did  seem  Christ's  friends, 
but  foster'd  guileful  sprites  : 

"28  Apostates  base,  and  Run-aways, 
such  as  have  Christ  forsaken, 
Of  whom  the  Devil,  with  seven  more  evil, 
hath  fresh  possession  taken  : 

"31  Blasphemers  lewd,  and  swearers  shrewd, 

Scoffers  at  purity, 
That  hated  God,  contemn'd  his  Rod, 

and  lov'd  Security. 
Sabbath  polluters,  Saints  persecutors, 

presumptuous  men  and  proud, 
Who  never  lov'd  those  that  reprov'd 

all  stand  amongst  this  Crowd. 

"  33  False-witness-bearers,  and  self-forswearers 

Murd'rers  and  Men  of  blood, 
Witches,  Inchanters,  and  Ale-house-haunters, 
beyond  account  there  stood. 

"  34  There  stands  all  Nations  and  Generations 

of  Adam's  Progeny, 
Whom  Christ  redeem'd  not,  who  Christ 

esteem'd  not, 
through  Infidelity. 


266  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

"35  These  num'rous  bands  wringing  their  hands 

and  weeping  all  stand  there, 
Filled  with  anguish,  whose  hearts  do  languish 
with  self- tormenting  fear." 

Christ  then  begins  to  judge.  He  speaks 
first  to  the  sheep,  explaining  how  and  why 
they  are  saved,  and  points  them  to  thrones 
near  by  where  they  are  to  assist  in  judg- 
ing the  rest.  Then  comes  the  turn  of  the 
wicked. 

"51  Of  wicked  Men,  none  are  so  mean 

as  there  to  be  neglected  : 
Nor  none  so  high  in  dignity, 
as  there  to  be  respected.  " 

Different  classes  of  sins  are  judged  in  their 
order.  First  hypocrites  are  disposed  of,  then 
"civil  honest  men,"  those  that  pretend  want 
of  opportunity  to  repent,  heathen  men,  and  so 
on,  until  at  last  come  the  reprobate  infants. 

"  166  Then  to  the  Bar,  all  they  drew  near 

who  dy'd  in  infancy, 
And  never  had  or  good  or  bad 
effected  pers'nally. 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         267 

But  from  the  womb  unto  the  tomb 

were  straightway  carried, 
(Or,  at  the  least,  e're  they  transgrest) 

who  thus  began  to  plead." 

The  children  argue  that  they  should  not  be 
punished  for  Adam's  sin,  but  the  Judge  re- 
plies promptly  that  they  themselves  are  sin- 
ners and  must  expect  to  be  treated  as  such. 

"  1 80  Yet  to  compare  your  sin  with  their 

who  liv'd  a  longer  time, 
I  do  confess  yours  is  much  less, 
though  every  sin  's  a  crime. 

"  181  A  Crime  it  is,  therefore  in  bliss 

you  may  not  hope  to  dwell  ? 
But  unto  you  I  shall  allow 
the  easiest  room  in  Hell." 

The  pleading  is  all  ended,  the  earth's  foun- 
dation is  fired,  and  the  sentence  of  doom 
pronounced. 

"201  Ye  sinful  wights,  and  cursed  sprites, 

that  work  iniquity 
Depart  together  from  me  forever 
to  endless  Misery; 


268  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

"212  But  who  can  tell  the  plagues  of  Hell, 

and  torments  exquisite  ? 
Who  can  relate  their  dismal  state, 
and  terrours  infinite? 

"214  But,  ah  the  wo  they  undergo 

(they  more  than  all  besides) 
Who  had  the  light,  and  knew  the  right, 

yet  would  not  it  abide. 
The  sev'n  fold  smart,  which  to  their  part, 

and  portion  doth  fall, 
Who  Christ  his  Grace  would  not  embrace, 

nor  harken  to  his  call. 

"211  They  live  to  lie  in  misery, 

and  bear  eternal  wo ; 
And  live  they  must  whilst  God  is  just, 
that  he  may  plague  them  so." 

And  there  the  author  leaves  them  while  he 
returns  to  celebrate  the  felicity  of  the  saints, 
who  are  not  at  all  disturbed  by  the  sufferings 
of  their  relatives  and  friends  below.  We  are 
frankly  told  that  "  they  're  not  dejected  nor 
aught  affected  with  all  their  misery."  All 
natural  affections  seem  to  be  done  away  with. 
The  mother  disowns  her  children  who  are 
not  saved ;  and  the  pious  father  delights  to 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.        269 

see  his  son  "  In  Hell  with  Devils,  for  all  his 
evils,  burning  eternally."  It  is  true  that 
sympathy  formerly  moved  them  to  wish  to 
share  the  woes  of  others,  but  now,  he  says, 
"such  compassion  is  out  of  fashion,  and 
wholly  laid  aside." 

"  197  One  natural  Brother  beholds  another 

in  his  astonied  fit, 
Yet  sorrows  not  thereat  a  jot, 

nor  pities  him  a  whit. 
The  godly  wife  conceives  no  grief, 

nor  can  she  shed  a  tear, 
For  the  sad  fate  of  her  dear  Mate, 

when  she  his  doom  doth  hear. 

"198  He  that  was  erst  a  Husband  pierc'd 

with  sense  of  wives  distress, 
Whose  tender  heart  did  bear  the  part 

of  all  her  grievances, 
Shall  mourn  no  more  as  heretofore, 

because  of  her  ill  plight; 
Although  he  see  her  now  to  be 

a  damn'd  forsaken  wight." 

The  swinging  sing-song  ballad  style  in 
which  it  was  written  added  much  to  the 
popularity  of  the  poem.  No  other  book  ever 


2/O  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

published  in  America  has  had  so  large  a  cir- 
culation in  proportion  to  the  population  of 
the  country,  as  did  the  "  Day  of  Doom." 
Eighteen  hundred  copies  were  sold  the  first 
year,  so  that  at  least  every  fifth  family  owned 
a  copy.  It  was  the  solace,  says  Lowell,  of 
every  fireside.  Children  learned  it  by  heart, 
down  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution.  For 
more  than  a  hundred  years  it  was  the  repre- 
sentative poem  of  New  England,  and  Cotton 
Mather  predicted  that  it  would  continue  to 
be  read  in  New  England  until  the  day  of 
doom  itself  should  arrive. 

Toleration  is  a  broad  thing.  It  was  George 
Eliot  who  pointed  out  that  to  be  truly  liberal 
you  must  learn  to  tolerate  intolerance.  We 
can  at  least  try  to  understand  its  motives. 
Instead  of  scoffing  at  the  narrowness  and 
bigotry  of  the  Puritan  we  can  endeavor  to 
judge  him  by  the  standard  of  the  seventeenth 
century  and  not  that  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. We  shall  find  that  instead  of  being 


A   GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         2/1 

narrower  than  his  generation  he  was,  in  all 
essentials,  broader.  If  he  drove  out  a  heretic 
now  and  then,  it  was  because,  in  their  hand- 
to-hand  battle  for  existence,  he  did  not  dare 
to  run  the  risk  of  the  presence  of  a  disturb- 
ing element.  Those  were  dark  days  for 
Protestantism,  and  men  needed  to  be  on  their 
guard.  The  fires  of  the  inquisition  were  still 
smoking  in  Spain ;  Holland  had  been  well- 
nigh  blotted  from  the  face  of  the  earth ; 
Germany  had  been  for  thirty  years  a  bloody 
battle-field,  and  France  had  driven  the  whole 
of  her  thinking  population  into  exile.  In 
England  the  dungeons  were  overflowing  with 
men  whose  only  crime  was  attending  a  dis- 
senting church,  and  the  horrors  of  torture 
inflicted  on  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  make 
the  blood  run  cold  at  the  recital.  What 
wonder  that  the  second  generation  of  Puri- 
tans were  more  strict  than  the  first?  As  for 
superstition,  —  if  the  Puritans  believed  in 
witches,  how  was  it  with  the  rest  of  the 


2/2  OLD   COLONY  DA  YS. 

world?  There  was  not  a  nation  in  Europe 
in  which  a  belief  in  demoniacal  possession 
was  not  prevalent.  For  every  witch  hung 
in  Boston  or  Salem  thousands  were  put  to 
death  in  England,  in  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  Italy.  Nor  was  theology  the  only  science 
which  was  still  groping  in  darkness.  Other 
sciences  were  yet  in  the  grasp  of  superstition, 
notably  the  science  of  medicine.  Witness 
the  following  prescription,  sent  by  Sir 
Kenelm  Digby,  a  London  physician,  to  John 
Winthrop,  Jr.  "  For  all  sorts  of  agues,  I 
have  of  late  tried  the  following  magnetical 
"experiment  with  infallible  success.  Pare  the 
patient's  nails  when  the  fit  is  coming  on,  and 
put  the  parings  into  a  little  bag  of  fine  linen 
or  sarsanet,  and  tie  that  about  a  live  eel's 
neck  in  a  tub  of  water.  The  eel  will  die  and 
the  patient  will  recover.  And  if  a  dog  or  a 
hog  eat  that  eel,  they  will  also  die." 

In  short,   looking  the  world    over  in  the 
seventeenth  century  we  find    that  the  New 


A    GROUP  OF  PURITAN  POETS.         2/3 

England  Puritan  compares  very  favorably 
with  other  men.  He  may  have  been  hard 
and  angular,  but  he  was  honest,  manly,  and 
heroic.  What  he  lacked  in  art  he  made  up 
in  character,  and  earnestness  is  still  one  of 
the  primal  qualities  of  character.  It  was  not 
so  much  an  excess  of  earnestness  which  we 
regret,  as  the  direction  sometimes  taken  for 
its  expression.  "  Were  they  too  earnest," 
asks  Lowell,  "in  the  strife  to  save  their  souls 
alive?  That  is  still  the  problem  which  every 
wise  and  brave  man  is  life-long  in  solving.  If 
the  Devil  takes  a  less  hateful  shape  to  us 
than  to  our  fathers,  he  is  as  busy  with  us  as 
with  them ;  and  if  we  cannot  find  it  in  our 
hearts  to  break  with  a  gentleman  of  so  much 
worldly  wisdom,  who  gives  such  admirable 
dinners,  and  whose  manners  are  so  perfect, 
so  much  the  worse  for  us."  Before  we  unite 
too  heartily  in  their  condemnation  it  were  bet- 
ter to  weigh  carefully  the  words  of  one  who 
was  certainly  our  equal  in  liberality.  "  Next 
18 


2/4  OLD   COLONY  DAYS. 

to  the  fugitives  whom  Moses  led  out  of 
Egypt,  the  little  ship-load  of  outcasts  who 
landed  at  Plymouth  two  centuries  and  a  half 
ago  are  destined  to  influence  the  future  of 
the  world.  The  spiritual  thirst  of  mankind 
has  for  ages  been  quenched  at  Hebrew  foun- 
tains ;  but  the  embodiment  in  human  institu- 
tions of  truths  uttered  by  the  Son  of  Man 
eighteen  centuries  ago  was  to  be  mainly  the 
work  of  Puritan  thought  and  Puritan  self- 
devotion."  * 

*  James  Russell  Lowell,  in  "  New  England  Two  Cen- 
turies Ago." 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


ADAMS, JOHN  QUINCY,  quoted,    "Bradford's  Letter  Book,    12, 


Alden,  John,  So,  83. 

Alden,  Captain  John,  222. 

Alden,  Priscilla,  79,  80. 

Allerton,  Mr.,  82. 

Amsterdam,  25,  37. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  115,  116, 

146. 
"Anne,"  the,  77,  79,  80. 

BANCROFT,  16. 

Banister,  Mr.  Thomas,  Jr.,  159. 

Barry,  Mr.,  15. 

Barstow,  Goody,  97. 

Baxter,  Richard,  190. 

Bay  Psalm  Book,  242,  et  seq. 

Bellamy,  Mr.,  91. 

Billington,  John,  50,  62. 

"  Body  of  Liberties,"  90,  94. 

Bradford,  Governor  William; 
first  history  of  the  "  Old  Col- 
ony," ii  ;  MS.  found,  15;  early 
life  of,  17;  quoted,  20,  21,23; 
life  in  Holland,  25 ;  quoted, 

36>  37,  39,  42-45,  58-60,  65> 
74;  death  of  wife,  54;  chosen 
governor,  68  ;  married  to  Alice 
Southworth,  79;  re-election  as 
governor,  83  ;  writings  of,  84 ; 
chosen  governor  for  thirtieth 
time,  85  ;  death,  86. 
"  Bradford's  History,"  12, 15, 17. 


Bradford,  John,  15. 

Bradford,  Samuel,  15. 

Bradstreet,  Anne,  249,  et  seq. 

Bradstreet,  Dudley,  222. 

Bradstreet,  Governor  Simon, 
197. 

Brewster,  William,  aids  "  Separ- 
atists," 18,  19;  imprisoned, 
22 ;  made  assistant  pastor,  26 ; 
accompanies  Pilgrims,  34 ; 
cares  for  the  sick,  60,  72,  80; 
moves  to  Duxbury,  84. 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  190. 

Bryant,  Mr.,  97. 

Burial  Hill,  86. 

Burroughs,  Rev.  Mr.,  208. 

Buxton,  Dr.  Samuel,  156. 

CALEF,  ROBERT,  226. 
Cape  Cod,  42,  45,  48,  50. 
Carver,  John,  elected  governor, 

49,  58 ;   Received   Massasoit, 

63 ;  death,  67. 
Carpenter,  Mary,  171. 
Charles  II.,   115,  131,  135,  144, 

261. 

Chester,  Bishop  of,  191. 
Clark,  Mr.  James,  14. 
Clark,  Mr.  Timothy,  174. 
Clark's  Island,  52. 
Clifton,  Pastor,  19. 


277 


2/8 


INDEX. 


Cloyse,  Sarah,  208. 

Copp's  Hill,  114. 

Corey,  Giles,  213,  214,  216,  219. 

Corey,   Martha,    207,  213,   215, 

216. 

Corwin,  Jonathan,  204. 
Cotton,  Rev.  John,  90,  93,  104, 

1 1 8,  244. 
Cushman,  Robert,  13. 

"DAY  OF  DOOM,"  259-270. 
Delft  haven,  36,  45. 
Denison,  Widow,  171,  175. 
Digby,  Sir  Kenelm,  272. 
Duxbury,  84. 

ELIOT,  Rev.  ANDREW,  157. 
Eliot,  Rev.  John,  no. 
Endicott,  Governor,  197. 
Everett,  Parson,  106. 

"FATHER  OF  AMERICAN  HIS- 
TORY," the,  n. 
Fiske,  John,  quoted,  187. 
"  Fortune,"  the,  72. 
Freneau,  Phillip,  235. 

GALLOWS  HILL,  213,  223. 
Gibbs,  Mrs.  Mary,  179,  180. 
Glover,  Goody,  193. 
Good,  Sarah,  203-206. 
Goodman,  John,  57. 
Griggs,  Dr.,  201. 

HALE,  Mrs.,  225. 
Hale,  Rev.  Mr.,  225. 
Hathorne,  John,  204. 
Hely,  Goodman,  102. 
Hibbins,  Ann,  197. 
Higginson,  Rev.  Francis,  92. 
Higginson,  Thomas  Wentworth, 
quoted,  105,  113. 


Hobbs,  Deliverance,  222. 
Hooker,  Thomas,  113. 
Hopkins,  Matthew,  192. 
Hopkins,  Oceanus,  41. 
Hubbard,  Elizabeth,  211,  212. 
Hull,  Hannah,  137. 
Hutchinson,  Ann,  188. 

JAMES  II.,  115,  116,  146. 
Johnson's    "  Wonder    Working 

Providence,"  92. 
Jones,  Margaret,  197. 

LAUD,  ARCHBISHOP,  16,  113. 
Lawson,  Rev.  Mr.,  201,  207. 
Lechford,  Thomas,  95. 
Leyden,  13,  25,  29,  34. 
Lidget,  Captain,  133. 
"  Little  James,"  the,  77. 
Lowell,  James  Russell,  quoted, 

229,  270,  273. 
Lyford,  Mr.,  81. 

MACAULAY,  quoted,  235. 

"  Magnalia  Christi  Americana," 
no,  124. 

Massachusetts  Historical  So- 
ciety, 13,  16,  134. 

Massasoit,  63,  65,  71,  77. 

Mather,  Cotton,  84 ;  quoted, 
110;  tomb,  114,  118  ;  youth, 
119 ;  called  to  the  North 
Church,  120;  belief  in  witch- 
craft, 122,  123;  writings,  124; 
sermon,  140,  146;  quarrel  with 
Sewall,  166 ;  sermon  in  de- 
fence of  periwigs,  169,  189, 
262,  270. 

Mather,  Increase,  sermon,  109; 
prayer  for  death  of  King  Phil- 
lip, no;  diary,  114;  sent  to 
England,  116;  chooses  the 


INDEX. 


279 


governor,  118;  speech  on  the 
charter,  144,  146,  166,  209. 

Maule,  Thomas,  93. 

"  Mayflower,"  the,  17,  35 ;  starts 
on  voyage,  38,  39;  starts  for 
the  third  time,  46 ;  compact 
signed  in,  47 ;  anchored  at 
Provincetown,  49,  50;  an- 
chored at  Plymouth,  54 ;  sent 
back  to  England,  66,  67. 

Mayhew,  no. 

Merrymount,  81. 

More,  Doctor,  190. 

Morton,  14. 

Moody,  Rev.  Joshua,  105. 

"  Mourt's  Relation,"  12,  13. 

NAUMKEAG,  83. 
New  Haven  Code  of  Laws,  97. 
North  Church,  114. 
Norton,  Rev.  John,  257. 
Noyes,  Rev.  Mr.,  223. 

OLD  COLONY,  n. 
Oldham,  John,  81. 
Old  South  Church,  14,  138,  144, 

145. 

Oliver,  Mistress,  91. 
Oliver,  Mr.,  174. 
Osborne,  Sarah,  203,  205,  206. 

PARKER,  THEODORE,  171. 
Parris,  Rev.  Mr.,  200,  202,  207, 

230. 

Parris,  Elizabeth,  200. 
Pawtucket,  62. 
Pemberton,  Rev.  Mr.,  166. 
Pepys,  129,  131,  132,  261. 
Phelps,  Nicholas,  98. 
Phtpps,  Sir  William,   nS,    148, 

209,  222,  224,  227. 
Phipps,  Lady,  222. 


Pilgrims,  12,  13,  16,  26;  decided 
to  leave  Holland,  34;  embar- 
kation, 38 ;  sign  compact,  46 ; 
landing,  53 ;  begin  to  build 
town,  55-57,  66,  67  ;  first  duel, 
69 ;  famine,  72,  86. 

"  Phenomena  Quaedam  Apoca- 
lyptica,"  163. 

"  Plain  Dealing,"  95. 

Plymouth  Rock,  9. 

Pomeroy,  Jesse,  199. 

Prince,    Rev.   Thomas,    14,    15, 

'7- 

Prince,  Governor  Thomas,  83. 
Plymouth,  10,  12,  15,  17,  274. 
Plymouth,  England,  39,  45. 
Provincetown,  49. 
Prynne,  Hester,  261. 
Prynne,  Puritan,  240. 
Puritan  preacher,  90,  92. 
Puritans,  popular  idea  of,  235 ; 

character  of,  270-274. 

QUAKERS,  in,  112,  188. 

ROBINSON,  Rev.  JOHN,  19,  26, 

34,  80. 
Ruggles,  Widow,  179. 

SAINT    SIMON,   diary  of,   129, 

13°.  '33- 
Samoset,  62,  63. 
Sargeant,  Thomas,  student,  101. 
Scott,  Thomas,  99. 
Scrooby,  18,  19,  22. 
"Selling  of  Joseph,"  the,  162. 
"Separatists,"  n,  19,  189. 
Sewall,  Henry,  134. 
Sewall,  Betty,  139,  141. 
Sewall,  Joseph,  139,  174. 
Sewall,  Mrs.,  158,  171. 
Sewall,  Sam,  142,  148. 


280 


INDEX. 


Sewall,  Judge  Samuel,  100,  103, 
129;  diary,  133;  early  life, 
135 ;  marriage,  137 ;  diary, 
137-183;  public  offices,  143; 
journey  to  London,  146;  en- 
gaged in  witchcraft  trials,  148  ; 
repentance  and  confession, 
149-151;  prayer  on  fast-day, 
152-155  ;  duties  as  judge,  158; 
writings.  162  ;  opinion  on  peri- 
wigs, 167  -  1 70  ;  courtships, 
171-180 ;  second  marriage, 
174;  third  marriage,  181  ; 
character,  182,  183;  quoted, 
245,  247,  248,  261. 

Shephard,  Rev.  Mr  ,  113. 

Shrimpton,  Mr.,  133. 

Smith,  Capt.  John,  54,  64. 

Southworth,  Mistress  Alice,  79. 

Southampton,  35,  38. 

"  Speedwell,"  the,  35,  38-41. 

Squanto,  63,  64,  70. 

Standish,  Barbara,  79. 

Standish,  Miles,  12;  joins  the 
Pilgrims,  35  ;  leads  exploring 
party,  49;  cares  for  the  sick, 
60,  61 ;  meets  Massasoit,  63  ; 


ends  war  with  Indians,  77; 
moves  to  Duxbury,  83,  85 ; 
death,  86. 

Standish,  Rose,  61. 

Stoughton,  Lieutenant  Gover- 
nor, 209,  225. 

"TALITHI  CUMI,"  162. 
Tilly,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  173-175. 
Tisquantum,  63,  64,  70. 
Tittiba,  200,  203,  205.  206,  228. 
Tomlin,  Mr.,  of  Lynn,  101. 

WARD,  Rev.  NATHANIEL,  90  ; 

quoted,  108,  252. 
Wetherell,  Parson,  97. 
White,  Peregrine,  50. 
Wigglesworth,     Rev.     Michael, 

106,  259-262. 

Williams,  Abigail,  200,  201,  212. 
Williams,  Roger,  113,  188. 
Willard,  Josiah,  168. 
Willard,  Rev.  Mr.,  146. 
Winslow,  Edward,  n,  34,  80. 
Winthrop,  Governor,  197,  237. 
Winthrop,     Madam    Katherine, 

I7i,i75,  J78,  179- 


'ssrs.  Roberts  BrotJicrs1  Publications. 


Dante  :    A  Sketch  of   His   Life   and 

Works.  By  May  Alden  Ward,  author  of  "  Life  of 
Petrarch,"  " Old  Colony  Days,"  etc.  16mo.  Cloth. 
Price,  $1.25. 

While  we  are  still  upon  Italian  ground,  we  wish  to  speak  of  Mrs.  May  Alden 
Ward's  very  clear,  unaffected,  and  interesting  sketch  of  Dante  and  his  life  and 
works.  It  is  not  easy  to  trace  the  career  of  the  poet  in  the  vague  and  halting 
records ;  and  it  is  harder  still  to  free  it  from  the  attribution  of  ages  of  sentimen- 
tality and  idealization,  and  present  a  probable  likeness  of  the  man  in  what  he 
actually  did  and  suffered.  The  effort  is  something  comparable  to  those  processes 
by  which  the  stain  and  whitewash  of  centuries  is  removed,  and  the  beauty  and 
truth  of  some  noble  fresco  underneath  is  brought  to  light  again.  We  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  Mrs.  Ward  has  given  us  another  Dante  of  the  Bargello ;  but  she  has 
wrought  in  the  right  spirit,  and  she  shows  a  figure  simple,  conceivably  like,  and 
worthy  to  be  Dante,  with  which  she  has  apparently  not  suffered  her  fancy  to  play. 
William  Dean  Howells,  in  "Harper's  Monthly." 

A  scholarly  piece  of  work,  in  which  the  figure  of  the  great  poet  who  sprung  up 
in  the  dawn  ot  Italian  literature  is  defined  strongly  and  accurately  amid  his  sur- 
roundings. The  author  has  made  a  careful  study  of  all  that  pertains  to  Dante  in 
the  literature  which  has  grown  out  of  his  life  and  works.  —  Dial,  Chicago. 

A  very  helpful  guide  and  milestone  for  any  one  for  the  first  time  en  route  to 
Dante  —  who,  to  beginners,  is  as  remote  as  the  Alps  of  Alaska,  and  needs  a  guiding 
stone  at  regular  intervals.  In  twenty-four  chapters  she  gives  a  modest  and  approx- 
imately complete  account  of  Dante's  life,  wanderings,  and  works,  and  winds  up 
with  a  good  bibliography  and  index.  —  Critic,  New  York. 

Mrs.  Ward  writes  with  information,  with  sympathetic  appreciation,  and  with 
great  good  taste  of  her  lofty  theme.  —  New  Orleans  States. 

So  compact,  so  agreeable,  and  so  instructive  an  account  of  the  grand  Italian 
has  not  heretofore  appeared  in  English.  —  Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

A  life  of  Dante  which  should  not  attempt  too  much  has  been  a  desideratum  of 
our  libraries ;  and  the  present  unpretentious  but  sufficient  work  fills  the  empty 
place  very  acceptably.  —  New  York  Nation. 

A  convenient  handbook  cast  in  narrative  form,  and  serving  as  a  running  com- 
mentary, both  on  the  events  of  the  poet's  life,  which  is  given  in  sufficient  detail  for 
the  purpose,  and  on  the  series  of  his  writings.  The  style  is  good ;  the  temper, 
modest ;  and  the  discussion,  of  that  excellent  quality  which  makes  the  reader  de- 
sirous of  larger  knowledge.  —  Unitarian  Review,  Boston. 

Careful,  modest,  and  scholarly.  A  compact,  useful,  and  reliable  biography  of 
the  unsurpassable  poet  of  Italy  and  of  the  world.  —  Portland  Press. 

Strange  to  say,  there  has  not  been  an  English  life  of  Dante  hitherto  on  either 
side  of  the  ocean.  The  work  has  now  been  well  done  by  Mrs.  Ward.  Her  work  is 
complete  in  a  surprising  degree.  The  facts  ascertainable  are  all  in  their  place ;  the 
open  questions  are  concisely  indicated  ;  and  the  story  is  told  with  its  own  charming 
simplicity.  —  Standard  of  the  Cross. 

A  clear  and  comprehensive  story.  —  Chautanquan. 

Brief,  but  charmingly  written.  —  Saturday  Gazette. 

Interesting  from  first  to  last.  —  New  York  Graphic. 

Vivid  and  full  of  feeling.  —  New  England  Journal  of  Education. 

Compact  and  picturesque.  —  Book  Buyer. 

Modest,  helpful,  suggestive.  —  Literary  World. 

Thoroughly  unassuming,  attractive,  and  sympathetic.  Nothing  could  be  in 
more  perfect  taste. — Boston  Courier. 

Sold  by  all  Booksellers.    Mailed,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price,  by  the 
Publishers. 

ROBERTS   BROTHERS.  BOSTON. 


Messrs.  Roberts  Brothers'  Publications. 


Petrarch  :    A  Sketch  of  His  Life  and 

Works.     By  May   Alden   Ward,  author  of  "  Life  of 
Dante."     16mo.     Cloth.    Price,  $1.25. 

Mrs.  May  Alden  Ward  has  done  for  Petrarch  what  she  did  for  Dante.  She  has 
written  a  sketch  of  his  life  and  works  in  a  simple,  straightforward,  and  unalt'ected 
style,  presenting  a  portrait  which  is  very  enjoyable,  and  free  from  all  the  extras 
which  other  writers  have  added  to  his  biography.  Mrs.  Ward  seeks  simply  to  pre- 
sent the  man  himself  in  the  full  range  of  his  activity.  There  is  nothing  laid  on,  — 
no  effort  at  learning,  no  attempt  to  make  a  great  book.  Hundreds  will  read  this 
work,  as  they  have  read  the  same  author's  little  book  on  Dante,  and  will  enjoy 
greatly  its  unpretending  pages  without  scarcely  knowing  why.  She  has  told  the 
story  of  Petrarch's  life  so  delightfully  that  we  hope  she  will  find  some  other  hero 
of  that  period  whose  career  she  can  present  with  equal  clearness  and  simplicity.  — 
Boston  Herald. 

A  companion  volume  to  the  same  writer's  "Dante."  It  is  a  charming  book, 
graceful  in  its  literary  style,  happy  in  the  skill  with  which  it  seizes  upon  the  salient 
point  in  the  poet's  life  and  character,  and  delightful  in  the  pictures  it  affords  of  the 
man,  the  poet,  and  his  friends.  The  author  displays  a  keen  sympathy  with  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  her  criticisms  on  the  poetry  and  the  letters  of  Petrarcli  are  marked  by  fine 
taste,  admirable  judgment,  and  well-digested  knowledge.  Although  "  a  sketch,"  it 
contains  in  essence  all  that  is  to  be  found  in  more  voluminous  works  on  the  same 
theme  leavened  by  the  peculiar  felicity  of  thought  and  treatment  that  is  the  au- 
thor's own  attractive  possession.  —  Boston  Gazette. 

Nothing  more  attractive  in  the  way  of  a  biographical  sketch  can  be  desired  than 
May  Alden  Ward's  "Petrarch."  The  book  is  delightful  in  style,  sprightly  in  nar- 
rative, skilful  in  seizing  salient  points  in  the  presentation  of  the  poet,  and  vivid  and 
graphic  in  its  pen  portraits  of  the  poet  and  his  many  friends  and  appreciative 
admirers.  Petrarch,  the  apostle  of  culture,  the  instigator  of  the  revival  of  letters, 
the  precursor  of  the  Renaissance,  is  before  us  in  living  presence.  —  Providence 
(R.  I.)  Journal. 

The  story  of  his  life,  of  its  great  influences  and  influence,  its  literary  work,  its 
value  to  posterity,  is  admirably  related  by  Mrs.  Ward ;  and  the  volume  will  prove 
to  be  one  of  genuine  interest  and  permanent  value.  To  bring  into  a  comparatively 
limited  space  so  symmetrical  a  view  of  one  of  the  epoch-making  poets  requires 
literary  skill  of  a  high  order ;  and  well  has  Mrs.  Ward  performed  this  difficult  and 
delicate  task.  —  Boston  Budget. 

Mrs.  Ward  has  done  her  work  admirably ;  and  from  this  one  book  you  may 
glean  all  that  is  of  real  value  in  the  hundreds  of  volumes  of  which  Petrarch  has 
been  the  theme.  His  love,  his  friendships,  his  ambitions,  his  greatness,  and  his 
follies,  —  they  are  written  here. — Louise  Chandler  Moulton. 

Mrs.  May  Alden  Ward's  style  is  remarkably  simple,  clear,  and  attractive.  In 
whate  .-er  phase  of  his  life  she  presents  Petrarch,  whether  as  the  dandified  youth, 
the  rapturous  lover,  the  poetic  recluse,  or  the  triumphant  laureate,  —  the  first  of 
the  race  of  literary  lions  —  he  is  always  human,  near  to  us,  and  interesting  ;  and  it 
would  repay  many,  to  whom  Petrarch  is  little  else  than  a  name,  to  read  this  sketch 
of  him,  which  is  deep  enough  for  the  more  seriously  inclined,  yet  will  be  entertain- 
ing to  those  of  a  lighter  mind.  —  Figaro,  Chicago. 

It  is  the  best  book  in  English  on  the  Italian  poet,  who  immortalized  himself,  as 
well  as  his  Laura,  by  his  famous  sonnets.  — Philadelphia  Bulletin, 

Mrs.  Ward  has  condensed  into  her  valuable  sketch  the  main  points  scattered 
through  the  innumerable  works  of  which  Petrarch  has  been  the  theme,  and  has  told 
of  his  faults,  his  follies  (for,  great  as  he  was,  there  are  some  regrettable  tilings  in 
his  life),  his  ambitions,  his  hopes,  and  his  friendships  in  a  fashion  that  makes  him 
seem  a  very  real  and  present  person,  instead  of  one  who  is  separated  from  us  by  five 
centuries.  —  Public  Opinion,  New  York. 


Sold  by  all  Booksellers.     Mailed,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price,  by  the 
Publishers, 

ROBERTS   BROTHERS.  BOSTON. 


Messrs.  Roberts  Brothers  Publications. 

The  Puritan 

IN 

England  and  New  England. 


By  EZRA  HOYT  BYINGTON,  D.D.,  Member  of  the  American  Society  of 
Church  History.  With  an  Introduction  by  ALEXANDER  MCKENZIE, 
D.D.,  Minister  of  the  First  Church  in  Cambridge,  U.  S.  A. 


One  Volume.    8\o.    Cloth.    3  Illustrations.    Price,  $2.00. 

Af  admirably  written  series  of  historical  studies.  The  writer  starts  by 
tracing  the  growth  of  the  Puritan  party  in  England,  and  shows  the 
radical  difference  between  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans  from  the 
beginning.  The  chapter  on  "  The  Early  Ministers  of  New  England  "  is 
fascinating :  the  methods  of  worship,  the  laws  requiring  attendance  and 
those  forbiding  smoking  within  two  miles  of  the  meeting-house,  the  style  of 
music,  the  week-day  lectures  ;  indeed,  all  the  little  every-day  facts  about  the 
lives  of  the  great  Puritan  ministers  and  their  congregations  are  described  in 
a  distinctly  popular  style.  The  writer  is  a  conscientious  student  of  history, 
who  has,  in  many  instances,  gone  to  original  sources ;  and  he  is  master  of  a 
simple,  direct,  vigorous  style. 

The  book  is  offered  to  the  public  in  the  hope  that  it  may  contribute 
toward  a  fuller  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  our  forefathers,  who,  under 
the  limitations  of  a  pioneer  life  in  the  seventeenth  century,  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  this  free  and  progressive  nation. 

The  book  has  had  a  natural  growth,  originating  in  papers  read  before 
our  historical  societies,  and  embracing  the  following  subjects,  viz.  :  The 
Puritan  in  England  ;  The  Pilgrim  and  the  Puritan,  Which?  The  Early 
Ministers  of  New  England;  William  Pyncheon,  Gent.;  The  Family 
and  Social  Life  of  the  Puritans :  Religious  Opinions  of  the  Fathers  of 
New  England ;  The  Case  of  Reverend  Robert  Breck,  of  Springfield; 
Religions  Life  in  the  Eighteenth  Century  in  Northern  New  England ; 
giving  abundance  of  material  for  many  interesting  pages,  which  will  make 
curious  and  instructive  reading. 

We  find  here  the  results  of  honest  and  patient  study,  presented  in  an 
attractive  way,  with  a  style  remarkably  clear  and  strong ;  and  we  are  taken 
from  chapter  to  chapter  along  pleasant  paths,  with  an  increasing  knowledge 
of  the  Puritan  and  of  all  which  the  name  stands  for,  and  with  a  growing 
and  abiding  admiration  of  the  ancestry  to  which  every  American  owes  so 
much. 


For  sale  by  all  Booksellers.     Mailed,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  price, 
iby  the  Publishers, 

ROBERTS   BROTHERS,  BOSTON. 


.  Roberts  Brothers'  Publications. 


MARGARET  AND  HER  FRIENDS; 

Or,  Ten  Conversations  with  Margaret  Fuller  upon 

the  Mythology  of  the  Greeks  and 

its  Exoression  in  Art. 


Held  at  the  house  of  Rev.  George  Ripley,  Bedford  Place, 
Boston,  beginning  March  i,  1841.  Reported  by 
CAROLINE  W.  HEALEY  (Mrs.  C.  H.  Dall).  12010. 
Cloth.  Price,  $1.00. 

Among  the  memoirs,  only  too  few,  of  a  transitional  period  in  our  liter- 
ary history,  this  entertaining  volume  is  one  of  the  most  interesting.  It 
gives  some  idea  of  the  charm  by  which  Miss  Fuller  attracted  those  who 
loved'her,  and  it  is  curious  as  showing  the  line  of  thought  and  speculation 
which  some  of  the  brightest  people  here  were  then  pursuing.  If  it  make 
the  young  people  of  to-day  take  down  the  volumes  of  Margaret  Fuller's 
life,  it  will  do  them  service.  And  if  any  of  them  have  a  grandmother  who 
lived  among  those  people,  they  cannot  make  her  a  more  acceptable  present. 
Whatever  Mrs.  Dall  does  is  well  done,  and  Margaret  Fuller  could  not 
have  asked  for  a  better  reporter.  —  The  Commonwealth. 

"Margaret  Fuller  and  Her  Friends;  or,  Ten  Conversations  with 
Margaret  Fuller  upon  the  Mythology  of  the  Greeks  and  Its  Expression  in 
Art,"  presents  Mrs.  Caroline  Healey  Dall's  personal  reminiscences  of  the 
famous  "  Fuller  Conversations."  The  meetings  of  the  "  circle  "  reported  in 
the  volume  were  held  at  the  residence  of  the  Rev.  George  Ripley,  in  Boston, 
during  the  spring  of  1841.  Among  those  who  met  in  familiar  association 
in  the  circle,  whose  presiding  genius  was  Margaret  Fuller  herself,  were  the 
celebrated  sculptor  William  W.  Stcrey,  Ralph  Walclo  Emerson,  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  George  Ripley,  A.  Bronson  Alcott,  the  gifted  author, 
Caroline  W.  Healey,  and  a  score  of  others  more  or  less  prominent  in 
literature.  The  conversations  discuss  Greek  religion  and  its  influence 
upon  Greek  art  in  a  delightfully  informal  style.  The  bcok,  written  at  the 
request  of  the  survivors  of  the  Fuller  family,  is  entertaining  and  instructive, 
and  throws  a  clearer  light  upon  the  type  of  mentality  of  this  gifted 
and  unfortunate  pioneer  among  American  literary  women.  —  Columbus 
Despatch. 

In  these  conversations  Margaret  Fuller,  under  the  forms  suggested  by 
mythology,  proceeded  to  open  all  the  great  questions  of  life;  and  her 
opinions  and  convictions,  and  those  of  her  hearers,  freely  and  frankly 
expressed  in  the  intimacy  of  this  friendly  circle,  form  a  volume  of  excep- 
tional interest  and  value.  —  The  Wisconsin. 


Sold  by  all  Booksellers.    Mailed,  postpaid,,  by  the 

Publishers, 

ROBERTS   BROTHERS,  BOSTON 


NEW  ENGLAND  LEGENDS  *»  FOLK  LORE. 

By  SAMUEL  ADAMS  DRAKE, 

Author  of  "  Old  Landmarks  of  '  Boston '  and  '  Middlesex,' " 
"  si  round  the  Hub"  etc. 

One  volume,  12mo,  cloth,  illustrated.    Price,  $2.00. 


scattered  Legendary  and  Folk  Lore 


had  to  the  romance  of  history 


f  such  authors  as  Longfellow,  Whittier,  Holmes, 


In  this  way  many  of  the  poetical  gems  o 


most  fascinating  book  without  saying,      I  now  know  what  kind  of  men  and  wi 
founders  of  New  England  really  were.     Truth  is  indeed  stranger  than  fiction  1  " 


ROBERTS    BROTHERS, 

3  Somerset  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 


Messrs.  Roberts  Brothers'  Publications. 

THE  NEW  HARRY  AND  LUCY. 

A  Story  of  Boston  in  the  Summer  of  1891.  By 
EDWARD  E.  HALE  and  LUCRETIA  P.  HALE.  With 
illustrations  by  Herbert  D.  Hale.  i6mo,  cloth. 
Price,  $1.25. 


In  a  most  interesting  preface  the  authors  give  some  information  re- 
garding their  story,  which,  it  seems,  was  written  as  it  appeared  in  The 
Commonwealth,  and  had  no  plot  other  than  that  which  unfolded  week  by 
week.  The  hero  and  heroine  record  their  own  experiences  by  means  of 
letters,  —  he  to  his  mother,  and  she  to  a  girl  friend  at  home ;  and  the  com- 
pleted story  is  exceedingly  natural  and  readable.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely 
that  the  letters  of  any  two  bright,  wide-awake  people  might  not  combine 
into  a  most  acceptable  novel ;  and  as  the  two  authors  of  this  book  claim, 
such  a  record  of  the  life  of  any  city  during  a  few  months  or  years  would 
be  of  tremendous  interest  and  value  when  another  generation  should  take 
to  wondering  just  how  the  old-time  young  men  and  women  passed  their 
days,  and  how  the  city  which  they  knew  could  have  looked  an  hundred 
years  back.  So,  as  Dr.  Hale  says,  if  the  Public  Library  shall  have  pre- 
served a  copy  of  "  The  New  Harry  and  Lucy  "  when  the  twentieth  century 
shall  be  near  its  close,  this  story  of  Boston  life,  with  all  its  interesting 
information,  will  be  very  valuable.  And  as  nothing  that  Dr.  Hale  or  his 
gifted  sister  writes  can  be  ever  anything  but  interesting,  "The  New 
Harry  and  Lucy  "  need  not  wait  for  appreciation  till  a  hundred  years  shall 
have  yellowed  its  printed  page. 

It  is  a  wide  awake,  interesting  story.  —  Boston  Times. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  state  that  as  a  book  for  young  people,  inspiriting  as 
well  as  instructivp,  and  entirely  innocent  in  its  fun,  this  is  nearly  perfect. 
And  no  book  written  by  Dr.  Hale  is  without  interest  to  intelligent  persons 
of  any  number  of  years.  —  New  Haven  Palladium. 


Sold  everywhere.    Mailed,  post-paid,  by  the  Publishers, 

ROBERTS  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

BOSTON,   MASS. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  SAMUEL  ADAMS  DRAKE. 


Old  Landmarks  and  Historic  Person- 
ages of  Boston. 

One  Volume.      Square  I2mo.       100  Illustrations.       Price  $2.001 


Old  Landmarks  and  Historic  Fields 
of  Middlesex. 

One  Volume.    Square  I2mo.      Fully  Illustrated.      Price  $2.00. 


"  Your  Old  Landmarks  of  Boston  is  a  perfect  storehouse  of  information."  — 
Henry  W.  Longfellow. 

"lam  simply  amazed  at  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  its  information." — Jyhn 
G.  Palfrey. 

"Historic  Fields  and  Mansions  of  Middlesex  is  a  book  after  my.  own  heart."  — 
Benson  jf.  Lossing. 

Sold  by  all  Booksellers.    Mailed,  post-paid,  on   receipt  of  price, 
by  the  Publishers, 

ROBERTS    BROTHERS,     BOSTON. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  SAMUEL  ADAMS  DRAKE. 


AROUND    THE    HUB. 

A  BOY'S  BOOK  ABOUT  BOSTON. 


BOSTON  IN  1791. 

"  Of  the  books  on  Boston,  Mr.  Samuel  Drake's  '  Around  the  Hub '  is 
much  the  best.  The  author  has  written  a  book  about  Boston  —  Boston  in 
the  old  time  —  for  boys.  From  the  days  when  —  as  the  second  chapter  has  it 
— '  the  Puritans  hung  up  their  hats  '  in  the  then  small  town  of  Shawmut,  down 
to  its  expansion  into  the  Boston  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  they  were  stirring 
times,  indeed,  '  Mr.  Drake  tells  how  the  first  settlers  in  Boston  managed  to 
settle  with  their  Indian  neighbors.  He  draws  for  us  graphically  accurate 
pictures  of  the  old  Puritan  homes  and  customs.  Then  we  get  to  the  time 
when  the  withdrawal  of  the  King's  Charter  caused  the  Bostonians  to  rise  in 
arms,  and  how  sturdily  they  stuck  to  their  rights  is  told  in  a  style  that  quite 
secures  one's  sympathies.  The  history  of  the  American  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence could  not  be  written  without  the  men  of  Boston  well  in  the  fore- 
ground, and  as  the  narrative  progresses,  we  are  taken  through  the  thick  of 
the  moral  and  actual  fighting  until  the  famous  chapter  of  history  gains  a  new 
reality  from  the  vivid  style  of  the  narrator.  Although  some  parts  of  the 
book  make  an  Englishman  wince,  it  is  just  the  sort  of  historic  story-telling 
to  do  boys  real  good.  Capital  illustrations  are  scattered  through  the  volume, 
increasing  the  realism  of  the  old-time  scenes  so  well  depicted."  —  The 
London  Bookseller. 

One  volume.     Square  i2mo.    Illustrated.     Price,  $1.25. 

Sold  by  all  Booksellers.     Mailed,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  price, 
6y  the  Publishers^ 

ROBERTS   BROTHERS,  BOSTON. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


— -r 
,V  3  0 1984 


NOV  9 


REDD 

MOV301950 


DEC  13  195* 

N5V  2  5  ^9&&_1_ 
REC'D  MOl 

JUL2ll< 
JUL  1  5  1966 


Form  L9-42m-8,'49 (85573)444 


^^       THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


3  1158009703181 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A    001337392    3 


